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The Abingdon Religious Cducation Texts 
Bavrid G. Bownep, General Editor 


COMMUNITY TRAINING SCHOOL SERIES NORMAN E£. RICHARDSON, Editoe 


Religious Education 
Through Story-Telling 


BY 
KATHERINE D. CATHER 









REIGNER READING ROOM 





PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL Si. 


THE ABINGDON PRESS 
NEW YORK CINCINNATI 


Copyright, 1925, by 
KATHERINE D. CATHER 


All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages 
including the Scandinavian 


Printed in the United States of America 


CHAPTER 


I. 


Oe: 


CONTENTS 


EDITOR SLINTRODUCTION SS fo chide roe eee kee ree eee 


THE UNIVERSAL APPEAL OF THE STORY.............. 


The Use of Stories During Antiquity. The use of 
stories by Confucius—The use of stories by Christ 
and among the Hebrews—The use of stories in 
Europe during the Dark Ages—Influence of the mis- 
sionaries among the tribesmen—The use of stories 
by Buddah, Mohammed, and other religious teachers 
—Stories the first medium of systematic education— 
Story-telling a part of minstrelsy—Story-telling a 
method of instruction in Colonial times. 

The Inherent Appeal of the Story. The story 
touches the heart—The story feeds the desire for 
experience—The story is a tool of universal adapta- 
bility. 

The Use of Stories in General Education. Influence 
of stories during the World War—Influence of stories 
in the public school and Kindergarten—Story-telling 
in social service work—Story-telling among the adult 
foreign born—Story-telling in religious instruction— 
The Bible the greatest of all story books. 

Thought Questions. 


ILHE PURPOSEFUL USE OF THE STORY. 355 cis eee ees oe 


Arousing Interest and Sympathy. Necessity of sus- 
taining interest—Reasons for lack of interest—When 
lack of interest is due to choice of wrong material— 
When poor presentation is the cause of lack of interest. 

Providing Useful Knowledge. Giving the child a 
knowledge of the workings of God’s laws—Bible 
stories demonstrate the inevitable workings of God’s 
laws—The value of nature stories. 

Inspiring Christian Attitudes. The story not merely 
a source of information—The attitudes of the young 


35 


4 


CHAPTER 


Il. 


CONTENTS 


child similar to those of primitive man—Ancient 
stories early man’s explanation of the mysteries of 
nature—Attitude of young child toward nature 
essentially religious—The story the most powerful 
means of inspiring God-consciousness—God-con- 
sciousness must be developed from lower stages to 
higher—Summary of chapter. 
Thought Questions. 


THE STRUCTURE OF THE STORY OU) cue awe ee eee 


All Greai Stories are Alike in Structure. All prim- 
itive tales dramatic because of conflict. 

Stories Abound in Dramatic Interest. A story to be 
dramatic must deal with active, intelligent creatures 
—All the great modern stories abound in conflict— 
Dramatic situations not necessarily those of physical 
activity. 

The Parts of the Story. Beginning the story—Con- 
flict must appear in the beginning—Necessity of 
getting characters into action—The beginning in racial 
tales—Bible tales examples of perfect beginnings— 
The body, climax and conclusion of the story—Study 
of many stories necessary summary. 

Thought Questions. 


IV. THe Story INTERESTS OF CHILDREN..............-- 


The Interests of Young Children. Stories for little 
children must deal with the familiar—Conversation 
of children evidences their story interest—A science 
of story interests—Jingle, rhythm, alliteration and 
rime—Repetition of conversation and descriptive 
phrase—Child’s interest in parents simplifies acquaint- 
ing him with God—The idea of Christ the Good 
Shepherd appealing to small child—God’s care brought 
to the child through children of the Bible—Sacred 
legends help in the child’s religious training. 

The Interests of Older Children. The fairy-tale period 
of childhood—Numerous narratives in the Bible 
satisfy the demand for the supernatural—Failure to 
give wonder tales of the Bible while the child craves 
them often is followed by an irreverent or purely 
naturalistic attitude later on—Taking into account 


PAGE 


56 


74 


CHAPTER 


CONTENTS 


the particular period of development—Wonder 
stories of the New Testament—Wonder stories not 
the only ones children with active imaginations enjoy 
—Summary. 


Thought Questions. 


V. Tue Story INTERESTS OF /PRE-ADOLESCENTS AND 


VI. 


ATWO ESC MINTS Or KER, eh re LA ah ad hale REE aisiate ee ce eee 


Hero and Adventure Stories. The hero stories of the 
Old Testament—Hero stories should be told in a 
sequence—Leading boys and girls to see the different 
standards of life in different times—Necessity of 
investing the Bible stories with color—Repetition of 
incidents that have been given as wonder tales or 
miracle stories—Stories of heroism in first sixteen 
books of Old Testament. 

The Age of Adolescence. The early period of ado- 
lescence—Stories that satisfy during the first period 
of adolescence—Tales in which men and women 
figure—The later period of adolescence—Stories for 
the later period of adolescence. 

The Bible Rich in Story Material for Adolescent 
Years. Books of the prophets of interest mainly to 
adolescents—Characters of the New Testament of 
interest to adolescents—The women of the Bible 
interesting to adolescents—The crowning narrative 
of the Bible—Summary. 

Thought Questions. 


THOWinsTORIRS (CAN CRE USED Scene Leet) etre satiny 


The Training of the Young Child. God most effec- 
tively introduced through nature—Little children 
need very short stories—Value of the sand-box to 
those who tell stories to little children—Long nar- 
tatives as cycles or groups of short ones—Stories 
should be retold frequently to little children. 

'.The Story in the Program of the Home and Church 
School, Mothers and teachers should be good story- 
tellers—Stories from supplementary sources. 

The Great Father and the Birds. Teaching lessons 
by Bible stories in early childhood, 


5 


PAGE 


95 


119 


CHAPTER 


VII. 


VIII. 


CONTENTS 


God Saves the Children of Israel. The use of pictures 
illustrating Bible stories and truths—The use of poems 
and songs—Stories should be told to children, not read 
to them—Bible stories should be prepared from the 
Bible itselfi—The story a part of a varied program 
with older children and adolescents—Bible reading 
and story-telling—Pageantry, dramatization, essays 
and debates—Pageantry and dramatization should be 
an expression of religious feeling—The use of sacred 
legends in the adolescent period. 


Thoughi Questions. 


THE TECHNIQUE OF STORY-TELLING...........2020:- 


All Persons Can Learn to Tell Stories. Technique 
of story-telling simple—Necessity of preparation 
and practice. 


Preparing the Story. Knowing the story—Knowl- 
edge of story comes only through study—First, study 
the story to learn its plot—Studying characters and 
setting—Aids to visualization—How untrained story- 
tellers succeed—Writing the story preliminary to tell- 
ing it—Describing the scenes of the tale versus 
remembering the words—Repeating words of book 
version is not story-telling. 


Telling the Story. Look into the eyes of the 
auditors—Make the vocabulary fit the story— 
Dialogue—Change in the rate of speaking—The 
pause in story-telling—Action and gestures in story- 
telling —The voice should be natural—Do not moralize 
in telling a story. 


Thought Questions. 


TYPES OF STORIES AND THEIR USES................- 


Characteristics of the Different Types. Fairy Tales 
—The origin and nature of myths— History and 
historical romance—Legend—Allegory, parable and 
fable—Epic. 


Educational Uses of the Various Types. Every 
type of tale found in the Bible—Analyzing a story to 


PAGE 


143 


163 


CHAPTER 


CONTENTS 


determine its place in the educational program— 
Structure—Content—Age suitability. 
Thought Questions. 


120 SOURCES OF OTORY. MATERIAL (dink deco fo ee one tlob ales 


Material Tending to Emphasize the Color and 
Atmosphere of the Bible. Geography of the Holy 
Land—Customs—Retold Bible stories.~ 

Non-Biblical Material. Primitive nature stories— 
Modern nature material—Heathen and Christian epics 
—The heathen epics—The Christian epics—Retold 
epical stories—-Pilgrim’s Progress, Paradise Lost, and 
Jerusalem Delivered—Historical material—The Chris- 
tian martyrs and the heroes of the early Christian 
Church. 

Thought Questions. 


X. THe Use or PICTURES IN STORY-TELLING............ 


XI. 


The Use of Pictures in Religious Education. Great 
store of religious pictures—Cheap reproductions of 
masterpieces—The appeal of pictures in different 
periods. * 

Pictures to Use with Stories tn the Early Years of 
Childhood. 

Nature Pictures for Young Children. 

In the Primary Department. 

In the Junior Period. 

In the Period of Adolescence. 

Sources of Inexpensive Reproductions. 

Thought Questions. 


THER UMTORY~ DRLLER TLE RSED MN ae (het sun es ya wicked chk 


The Story-Teller’s Attitude. Attitude toward the 
children—Attitude toward material. 

The Personal Factor. Enthusiasm characterizes 
vivid personalities —- Enthusiasm versus whole- 
heartedness—The voice of the story-teller—The 
story-teller’s appearance. 

The Story-Telier’s Ideals. 

Thought Questions. 

Helpful Books for the Story-Teller. 


7 


PAGE 


195 


205 





EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION 


THE developments taking place in the field of 
religious education have created a demand for a 
new study of method in teaching religion. Teachers 
and supervisors are asking, ‘‘How does the pupil 
experience religion?” It is the steps in this process 
that suggest the mode of procedure in teaching. 
Method is not determined by the nature ‘of the 
lesson materials alone. It grows out of the processes 
whereby the pupil learns to live the Christian life. 
To facilitate this process is the function of method. 
Improvement in method will come through clearer 
insight into the natural ways by which children 
come to an experience of religion. 

With a clearer understanding of how children and 
young people learn to live this Christian life there 
comes a more intelligent and enthusiastic appre- 
ciation of the story as a means of religious educa- 
tion. Stories that are properly selected and well 
told quicken latent energies, help to set up channels 
of energy release, and provide action patterns to 
guide this energy, bringing it to desirable points of 
expression. The emotionalized mental furnishings 
of the pupil are organized around and identified 
with ethical ideals. Desirable forms of religious 
experience are set up within the pupil’s life. And 
all this takes place without compromising the 
spontaneity and naturalness of the child’s mode of 
procedure in learning. 

In preparing the present volume, Katherine D. 


9 


10 EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION 


Cather brings to her task a wide and intelligent 
familiarity with the world’s best story literature 
and what it has done in building our present world 
civilization. She is a seasoned master of the art 
of story-telling. Her insight into the spontaneous 
interests, needs, and limitations of child life is 
easily apparent. Though many books on this 
subject have appeared, it is safe to say that none 
equal the present volume in bringing to teachers the 
practical help they need in mastering the art of 
story-telling. The material has been carefully 
adapted to the requirements of the standard training 
course of the International Council of Religious 
Education. No one studying its chapters can fail 
to catch some of the author’s enthusiasm and 
conviction concerning the value of story-telling as 
a means of helping children to come into desirable 
forms of Christian experience. 


NORMAN E. RICHARDSON. 
Northwestern University. 


CHAPTER I 
THE UNIVERSAL APPEAL OF THE STORY 


MANY centuries ago there was a banquet in 
Bagdad, given by a caliph who rejoiced in the birth 
of ason. Every man of high station in the capital 
partook of the feast, and each one brought a costly 
gift for the babe—each except a young sage named 
Mehelled Abi. He came empty-handed. 

“Fine raiment, jewels, and gold the prince will 
receive in rich store,” this portionless guest ex- 
claimed as he salaamed to the caliph in greeting. 
“Therefore he shall have from me something more 
precious than any of these. Each day of his life, 
from the time he is old enough to understand until 
he enters the gate of manhood, I will tell him stories 
that will make him both wise and righteous. And 
when thy days are done in Bagdad, O Caliph, and 
he sits above the people as their chief, he will be 
just and merciful, a ruler in whom all Arabia will 
rejoice.” 

_Mehelled Abi kept his word. As soon as the 
child, who was named Haroun-al-Raschid, could 
speak and understand, a dark-robed figure came 
to the palace and recounted stories that embodied 
all that was best in Arabian history and thought. 
Not for a few months, or a few years came he, but 
throughout the prince’s boyhood and youth. When 
finally Haroun became caliph, the fame of his good 
works spread throughout the east. Then his teacher 

II 


12 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


inscribed on a scroll that is still to be seen in the 
Lichtenthal collection of manuscripts at Budapest, 
“It was because of the seed sown by the tales.” 
-iThose who have studied the history of story- 
telling, and who have watched the results of pur- 
poseful, systematic oral narration among children 
to-day, believe Mehelled Abi was not mistaken in 
his contention. Carefully planned, artistic story- 
telling by one whose heart is in the work, and who 
believes in the power of the story, can achieve 
results that are almost past believing. It 7s achiev- 
ing such results to-day in centers in the great 
American cities where gather children who are the 
problem and opportunity of social service workers. 

It has been achieving them throughout the ages. 
Story-telling has ever been a medium of culture, a 
teacher of history, literature, and ethics. It has 
instilled religious thought and feeling, in both 
children and adults. It has been a maker of stand- 
ards and builder of ideals, not only in one century 
or country, but during every age and in every land 
whose achievements have been chronicled. 


THE USE oF StoRIES DuRING ANTIQUITY 


When Socrates instructed the youth of Athens 
beneath the oleanders of old Greece, he empha- 
sized to them through concrete example the prin- 
ciples he wished them to absorb. He told stories 
the characters of which were rewarded with peace 
of spirit and satisfaction in life through having 
made those principles their guide of conduct, or 
were denied the happiness that might have been 
theirs because of failure to heed them. Dialogue 
was the favorite form of expression, of this Hellenic 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 13 


sage. Colloquy was used in which several characters 
argued their points and adjusted their differences. 
These dialogues, however, were enlivened in many 
places with bits of narrative introduced to drive 
theories home. 

Plato, the great pupil of Socrates, adopted a like 
method. Throughout his dialogues were scattered 
tales intended to fix in the minds and hearts of his 
followers the principles he advocated. In his works 
that have come down to us are numerous narrative 
portions, some of them not more than a paragraph 
in length, but stories nevertheless, short, concise 
tales in which something happens that tends to 
awaken interest and establish belief. 

In his Phedrus' we find the following illustration 
used as an argument against egotism, pretense, 
and desire to achieve without effort: 

“In the neighborhood of Naucratis, in Egypt, 
there lived one of the ancient gods of that country 
whose name was Theuth. He was the first to 
invent numbers and arithmetic, geometry and 
astronomy, draughts, and above all, letters. Now, 
the whole of Egypt at that time was under the sway 
of the god Thamus, who resided near the capital 
city of the upper region, which the Greeks call 
Thebes. To him therefore Theuth repaired, and, 
displaying his inventions, recommended their gen- 
eral diffusion among the Egyptians. Thamus asked 
him the use of each, and received his explanations, 
as he thought them good or bad, with praise or 
censure. 

“Now, on each of the arts the god is reported 


1The Phedrus, Lysis, and Protagoras of Plato, page 103. 
The Macmillan Company. Used by permission. 


14 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


to have said a great deal to Theuth, both in favor 
and disfavor. It would take a long story to repeat 
it all. But when they came to the letters, Theuth 
began, “This invention, O king, will make the 
Egyptians wiser and better able to remember, it 
being a medicine which I have discovered for both 
memory and wisdom.’ . 

“The king replied: ‘Most ingenious Theuth, this 
invention of yours will produce a forgetfulness in 
the minds of those who learn it, by causing them 
to neglect their memory, inasmuch as from confi- 
dence in writing they will recollect by the external 
use of foreign symbols, and not by the internal use 
of their own faculties. You are providing for your 
disciples a show of wisdom without the reality. 
By it they will appear to possess much knowledge, 
while, in fact, they will know nothing at all. More- 
over, they will be disagreeable people to deal with, 
as having become wise in their own conceit, instead 
of truly wise.’ ”’ 

Plato introduced embryo stories into his dia- 
logues for the same reason Socrates used them. 
He knew that the concrete grips and molds. He 
understood that through seeing his theories in 
action, through observing virtue or vice in living 
human beings, he could impress truths upon the 
minds and hearts of his pupils more deeply and 
lastingly than in any other way. Experience had 
taught him that truth presented in formal precept 
is often not comprehended. Even when compre- 
hended it sometimes does not appeal. Therefore 
he made free use of a medium through which he 
had found it possible to make truth clear, and to 
make it attractive as well. 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 15 


“In order to teach a child truth,” this wise 
Athenian used to say, “it is necessary to teach him 
fiction.”’ 

He meant that before people can be sufficiently 
swayed by a truth or principle to make it the 
guiding rule of conduct it is necessary for them to 
see that principle in action. It is necessary for 
them to observe men suffering or rewarded according 
to their allegiance to some great precept. Through 
the play of imagination which the story gives, such 
observation and insight are possible. 

The use of stories by Confucius.—Centuries 
before the days of Socrates and Plato there was a 
man in China who was fully appreciative of the 
wisdom of using stories in teaching religion and 
morality. His name was Confucius. In his youth 
he was but a keeper of herds for the chief of the 
district in which he lived, and he spent his early 
years in poverty. Yet he grew to be one of the 
greatest teachers and lawgivers of all time. He 
proclaimed to his people a better code of action 
than the one by which they had been governed 
from remote ages. He believed that morality and 
righteousness cannot be achieved from without, but 
come only through desire from within. He used 
stories to arouse desire for better conduct, because 
he discovered that in listening to accounts of those 
who had known the satisfaction of high conduct 
came desire to emulate them. 

The use of stories by Christ and among the 
Hebrews.—When the Greatest Teacher of all began 
his work in Palestine he employed the story freely 
to illustrate principles and demonstrate truths. 
Through the parable of the good Samaritan he 


t 


16 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


taught the beauty of being merciful in a way that 
unnumbered “Thou shalts”’ could not have done. 
The parable of the sower, the parable of the fig 
tree, the parable of the vineyard, the parable of the 
lost coin and all the others are tales told to estab- 
lish beliefs and awaken desire. Never in the history 
of the world has narrative been more freely drawn 
upon to teach lessons than by Jesus of Nazareth. 
He understood its power over the human heart, and 
throughout his ministry employed it in his work. 

As it was with Jesus, so it was with those who 
preceded him as the teachers of the Israelites. 
Like eager children were the men and women to 
whom the Hebrew leaders spoke of the deeds of 
outstanding figures of their race, of their heeding 
or disobeying the voice of God and the reward or 
punishment that came accordingly. And because 
the story has power to touch the heart as well as the 
intellect the lessons given in this way were not 
forgotten. 

The use of stories in Europe during the Dark 
Ages.—The period the world knows as the Dark 
Ages was not wholly devoid of light and progress 
because, during that time, there were many splendid 
teachers in Europe. Most of them are unsung 
men as far as we are concerned, for only in a few 
cases have their names come down to us, yet they 
did an immortal work, and they did it largely 
through the medium of oral narration. 

There were two groups of these leaders. One 
was made up of missionaries who went from Italy, 
where already Christianity had taken root, into 
lands beyond the Alps whose inhabitants were 
yet barbarians. The other consisted of tribesmen 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 17 


who recounted the traditions of their people to the 
rising generation. ‘The missionaries preached the 
gospel to the clans of Gaul and Britain by telling 
of rewards enjoyed by those who had embraced the 
principles of Jesus—rewards that could not come 
to followers of the Druid god, Beltane. Their 
methods were the methods of Confucius, of Plato, 
of Jesus, of all, in fact, who have been the great 
religious mentors of the world. 

Influence of the missionaries among the tribes- 
men.—Some of the missionaries who crossed the 
Alps had great influence with the western tribal 
leaders even before they succeeded in converting 
them to Christianity. Old chronicles make fre- 
quent mention of barbarian chiefs and sovereigns 
consulting these men in secular matters. The 
Italian bishop Remi was the counselor of the young 
Frankish king Clovis even while that impulsive and 
fiery monarch scoffed at his tales of acts of the 
Christian God. Yet by those same tales was 
Clovis swayed in a way that mystified him, and 
very often, because of their admonition, he modified 
his course of conduct, although he clung tenaciously 
to his heathen gods. Remi it was whom the Frank 
consulted when he wanted to take a bride who 
would be a credit to the Merovingian line and a 
joy to himself, and Remi wisely guided him to 
Clotilda of Burgundy, King Chilperic’s young 
daughter, who, of all maids the Italian had met 
in Gaul, had taken deepest hold on his affections. 
She was little more than a child when he went to 
the Burgundian court in the hope of establishing 
the Christian faith there, but she listened to his 
words like one entranced. His tales of the Babe 


18 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


in the manger who became the Man of Sorrows, 
and the early Christian martyrs, were as food to 
her spirit. She embraced Christianity and never 
swerved in her allegiance to it. After her marriage 
to Clovis she labored hand in hand with the mis- 
sionary to Christianize her husband and Gaul. 
After a labor of almost five years she succeeded. 

Examples paralleling that of Remi can be cited 
from Britain, from Belgium, and from lands east 
of the Rhine where men worked in the same way 
as the Italian to establish the Christian faith, and 
by his methods achieved the same results. Every 
missionary who labored during the early Christian 
era presented principles through scattered bits of 
narrative instead of trying to teach them as abstract 
statements and axioms. 

By the time of the ascension of Charlemagne, 
Christianity had become firmly established in 
western Europe. Yet many men still labored there 
to keep the flame of the faith burning at full inten- 
sity, and in order to do it they told and retold the 
tales which Bishop Remi and his colleagues had 
brought from the east. The outstanding churchman 
of Charlemagne’s time was Turpin, Archbishop of 
Rheims, and numerous legends from that period 
acclaim him as a prince of story-tellers. No one 
could bring tears to the eyes and high resolve to 
the heart as could Turpin as he recounted nar- 
ratives of Christ and the apostles. By the power- 
ful emotional appeal of his tales he kept zeal for 
Christianity burning at a feverish pitch in Gaul, 
although he himself was doer of many an evil deed. 

The use of stories by Buddah, Mohammed, and 
other religious teachers.—Buddah, ‘‘the Enlight- 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 19 


ened,” used the story in his teachings as freely as 
Jesus used it. He lived a recluse among the groves 
of Bernares, struggling to overcome within himself 
all that seemed unrighteous, and seeking for the 
truth. Then he went into the world and gave the 
account of his experiences.. By his preaching and 
tales he won millions to his faith. The power of 
Buddah in China, Japan, and India even now is 
a monument to the lasting effectiveness of his method 
of teaching. 

Mohammed, prophet of the Moslems, spread his 
gospel with fire and sword, and commanded his 
followers to do likewise. But he depended on some- 
thing mightier than a blade of steel to perpetuate 
his principles. Whenever he was not fighting he 
was picturing to his apostles the bliss that awaited 
all believers in his doctrines, picturing to them the 
beauty of the houris and the peri, the asphodel 
meadows, the beguiling music, the days of ease and 
nights of pleasure in the Paradise of the Koran. 
It is the traditions of Mohammedanism, told and 
retold for centuries at Saracenic firesides, that have 
kept the Moslem faith alive in the world. 

It was the same among the Scandinavians. 
Christianity became the legalized religion of Nor- 
way in the early part of the eighth century, but 
for a long time after that it was not the faith to 
which the vikings turned in time of trouble. The 
power of the ancient tales still held them, and 
although a Christianized king commanded their 
attendance at Christian churches, while at home, 
on the sea, in times of storm and danger, they 
worshipped Thor. To this day in isolated parts of 
the island of Sicily, yearly religious observances are 


20 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


conducted that are a survival of pagan times. The 
beliefs upon which they are founded never have 
been a part of the Catholic creed. For several 
centuries both church and state have united in an 
effort to eradicate these pagan observances. But 
because the stories that keep alive these beliefs 
are told by the old generation to the young, the 
people still cling to them. They believe as their 
fathers believed before them. It is by the lips of 
the story-teller that these beliefs have been kept 
alive. | . 

Stories the first medium of systematic education. 
—Charlemagne, “the great emperor,’”’ who came 
to the throne of the Franks in 771, was a ruler of 
wider vision than any of his predecessors. He 
saw that in order to make his realm the power of 
which he dreamed he must be surrounded by men 
of valor. Bravery could be inculcated into youth 
by making them familiar with the high deeds of 
men of the past, so he set about finding teachers to 
undertake the instruction of boys of the blood- 
royal. He established at Paris schools in which 
history was taught. There being no books at that 
time save chronicles on rolls of parchment that 
were brought at great cost from the east, history 
was taught entirely by word of mouth. The 
teacher told stories of heroes of an earlier day, not 
only of Gaul, but of Italy, Greece, and the Orient. 
The education of a boy began at the age of ten and 
lasted throughout four or five years. Such instruc- 
tion, it was believed, would equip him with knowl- 
edge and desire for high achievement that would 
greatly increase the quality of his knighthood. 

The schools established by Charlemagne hardly 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 21 


deserve the name when compared with those of our 
day, but as time passed they grew in number and 
improved. ‘To the teaching of history and religion 
was added mathematics. Several centuries after 
the death of the great emperor the ‘‘royal schools”’ 
were united into an institution that later became 
the University of Paris. 

Only boys of highest rank were received into the 
schools which Charlemagne established at Paris. 
But there were many youths among the lower 
nobility, and the emperor saw the wisdom of having 
them also versed in the lore of the past. ‘“The more 
they know of heroes the more of heroes they will 
become,” he often said. Consequently, he made 
provision for their education. He ordered men to 
go from castle to castle and tell stories of heroes of 
bygone times. Being a man of tremendous egotism, 
he commanded them to tell also of his own achieve- 
ments, many of which were greatly exaggerated in 
the tales. Some of the feats attributed to him had 
no foundation whatever, but coming from the lips 
of the story-teller they were believed by lads who 
heard them. Not only were they believed, but 
perpetuated, passed on to a younger generation 
by those who had received them in youth. With 
the passing of centuries they became the great 
mass of Charlemagne legends that have come down 
to us. 

Story-telling a part of minstrelsy.—As musical 
instruments were introduced into the world west of 
the Bosporus, strolling teachers whose business it 
was to recount the deeds of heroes often gave 
their tales with a lute or lyre accompaniment. 
This was the beginning of minstrelsy in Europe. 


22 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


Music reached a high state of development in 
Greece, and musical instruments introduced from 
Persia, Arabia, and Egypt were much employed as 
an accompaniment to singing. From Greece the 
lyre, harp, and lute were taken to Italy, where they 
became very popular. Then they were carried 
beyond the Alps. But their use was confined to 
the Frankish dominions, and to Ireland, where 
the harp was known from very remote times. Prob- 
ably the throbbing instrument the world has so 
long associated with the Emerald Isle was taken 
there by the Romans at the time of Cesar’s north- 
ward dash, and adopted by tribes still as primitive 
as any in the west, but more musically inclined 
than most of the others. At any rate, when Saint 
Patrick first visited Ireland, almost fifteen hundred 
years ago, he found the harp there. So far as we 
know, it was in use among the Irish people earlier 
than anywhere else in western Europe, although 
its origin in that land is a matter of conjecture. 

Toward the end of the Dark Ages the harp had 
become part of the life of every country of central 
and western Europe. Wherever this instrument 
was known there were strolling bards who were the 
castle entertainers. With their songs and stories 
they furnished amusement and helped to give 
variety to a life that was confined within narrow 
boundaries. These bards were far more than 
entertainers. They were the historians of their 
age, who gave to the young the lore of the old. 
All the stories of great men and great deeds they 
gave with a harp accompaniment, because they 
understood the power of music over the emotions, 
and while song and tale were harmoniously blended 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING rae 


the minstrel knew that he held his hearers in the 
hollow of his hand. In different lands these men 
were known by different names. In Britain and 
Ireland they were called minstrels; in Germany, 
minnesingers, and in France, trouvéres, or trouba- 
dours. But always they were teachers, men with 
a mission and a message. Not until the begin- 
ning of modern times was history taught in any 
other way than by the lips of the story-teller. 
Story-telling a method of instruction in Colonial 
times.—The ancient method of instruction was 
not wholly abandoned even after books came to be 
widely used. Numerous records show that as late 
as two centuries ago, in universities throughout 
Europe, but one book of history was used by a 
class. This was in the hands of the teacher, and 
from it he read and told stories. At the beginning 
of the Revolutionary War numerous history classes 
in the American colonies were conducted in this way. 


THE INHERENT APPEAL OF THE STORY 


Human emotions are fundamentally the same 
in every country and in every period of history, 
regardless of the degree of culture or the color of 
the skin. Love and hate lie dormant in the human 
heart; likewise gratitude, and all the other feelings 
that move mortals to action. They manifest them- 
selves according to the state of civilization or 
enlightenment of those in whose souls they surge, 
but the elemental urge, the motive that actuates 
men to right or wrong doing, is the same now as it 
was at the beginning of time. The story has power 
to nurture any one of the emotions, because, when 
the child—even the adult whose code of belief is 


24 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


not firmly fixed—hears tales in which any of the 
base emotions are glorified, he comes to glorify them 
himself, or at least to justify them. People reared 
in lands whose national heroes are fierce, avenging 
heroes grow into men of fierceness. To them a show 
of mercy is a badge of weakness. Pity is something 
of which,a strong man should be ashamed. Odin 
and Thor, of the ancient Norse mythology, were 
merciless, terrible gods, and because of the belief 
of the people in them the ancient code of the north- 
land was a terrible code. According to it, robbery 
and murder were justifiable and honorable, so long 
as they were perpetrated upon strangers, or beyond 
the boundaries of one’s own land. Consequently, 
from the fjords of Norway came the vikings, pil- 
laging and plundering along the shores of foreign 
lands. Not until after the Scandinavian people 
yielded to the softening influence of Christianity, 
not until heroes of gentleness and mercy supplanted 
the gods of violence of the old tales, were the ancient, 
fierce laws revoked in the north: Because the story 
of Mohammed is still the sacred narrative of the 
Moslems, massacres of Christians have been perpe- 
trated by the Turks even in our own time. The 
Prophet taught his followers that it is justifiable 
and holy to spread the faith with fire and sword, 
that whoever kills an unbeliever is pleasing in the 
eyes of Allah. Therefore both spahis and foot 
soldiers massacre with fanatical zeal, believing that 
in wiping out opponents of their religion they are 
doing right. 

The story touches the heart.—Examples from 
almost every land can be cited as evidence of the 
influence the frequently retold story has had upon 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 25 


human action. As one thinks upon the subject, the 
question arises, Why? What is the secret of the 
power of either the spoken or written tale to shape 
ideals and fix standards? Because it touches the 
heart. It arouses the emotions and makes people 
feel with the characters whose acts make the plot. 
Mirth, anger, pity, desire, disdain, approval, and 
dislike are aroused, because the characters who 
move through the tale experience these emotions. 
In listening to a story one is moved to pity by the 
misfortunes of his fellows and rejoices in their 
happiness and success. Dislike for a person who 
perpetrates a wrong upon another is aroused in 
hearing an account of an act of injustice. Approval 
of him who is merciful to the unfortunate is aroused 
to an equal pitch by a narrative portraying kind- 
liness. For the moment the listener forgets himself 
and experiences, thinks and feels with the hero of 
the story. This hero may be a person of another 
land or another race, but he is a human being. He 
knows sorrow, or happiness. He is brave or cow- 
ardly, and the emotions that are common to all 
human kind are called into play in seeing him move 
through a tale. 

The story feeds the desire for experience.— 
There is no age and no temperament to which the 
natrative does not appeal because it feeds the desire 
for experience that characterizes every human being. 
From the beginning until the end of life people are 
interested in the experiences of others. In hearing 
about the activities of others one is vicariously 
widening the range of his own experience. The 
same instinct that impels a person to listen eagerly 
to stories underlies fondness for hearing gossip or 


26 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


scandal. Whether worthy or unworthy tales are 
being told, the curtain is for the moment drawn 
aside from the lives of others. To the casual 
observer the skilled narrator seems to have almost 
hypnotic power, so completely do his hearers fall 
under the sway of his words while listening to a 
tale. But the secret of his power is in his ability | 
to make the characters of the story so alive and 
human that those who hear it live with them and 
enter into their experiences. 

The story is a tool of universal adaptability.— 
Because the story has power to awaken the emotions 
and to enlarge the range of experience, it is a tool 
of universal adaptability. Its appeal is like that 
of music, sculpture, or painting. The old and the 
young alike are swayed by it, the cultured and the 
illiterate, the Mongolian, the negro, and the white. 
At some time every heart experiences the throb of 
pity; each soul rebels at the indignity of injustice; 
each vibrates at some moment to the voice of duty, 
the call of patriotism, or is impelled by the mighty 
force of love. Not in one age but in every age 
these feelings have swayed men. The child of 
kindergarten years and the highly educated, self- 
disciplined college professor alike feel the elemental 
emotions. In the one, feeling is manifested in 
impetuous action. In the other it is restrained, 
held in check by mature intelligence and cultivated 
self-control. But in each nature the age-old emo- 
tions lie dormant. That is why the little child 
appeals so often to the mother or some other adult 
with the words, ‘Tell me a story.” In listening 
to a story those dormant emotions are awakened 
and satisfied. That too is why the adult so often 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING yf 


becomes absorbed in reading a novel or short story 
to the degree that he is unconscious of everything 
around him. 


THe USE OF STORIES IN GENERAL EDUCATION 


Because the story portrays emotions that are 
confined to no one region or period of history, and 
stimulates the emotions of those who hear, it is as 
potent a means of education to-day as ever it was. 
Abundant evidence is obtainable of results achieved 
by story-telling among adults as well as children 
within the past five or six years. Some of these 
results have been so remarkable that they seem 
almost miraculous even to those who obtained them. 

Influence of stories during the World War.— 
Before America became one of the allies in the 
World War, several drives, undertaken for the pur- 
pose of raising funds for the Fatherless Children of 
France, the Fund for French Wounded, the British 
War-Orphan Relief, and like relief organizations, 
did not yield satisfactory returns in some localities. 
“That is a problem to be solved by the countries 
involved,” was often the reply of those solicited. 
Consequently, a campaign of story-telling was 
begun. Skilled narrators studied the field. They 
made up programs of tales embodying the best 
traditions of the lands for whose sufferers funds 
were urgently needed. They chose stories tending 
to emphasize in a gripping way the reason for the 
ready response to the call of the colors in the coun- 
tries where help was needed. They chose also tales 
picturing the pitiable condition, the seared hopes, 
and the drab, unbearable future of those who 
would be beneficiaries of the drive. These stories 


28 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


were told at afternoon teas given under the patron- 
age of society women. They were recounted in 
schools, in churches, in public libraries, in city 
parks, wherever and whenever a crowd could be 
gathered. And whenever they were told, dollars 
went into the fund, pulled out of the pockets of 
objectors who had declared the care of far-away 
folk was not their problem, but who had been made 
to realize it was the problem of all mankind. In 
listening to the sad stories, they had seen the plight 
and the viewpoint of the sufferers. Not only had 
they seen, but they had vicariously experienced 
to the point that they had been moved to pity. 

Influence of stories in the public school and kin- 
dergarten.—A little less than a century ago Froebel 
made it clear to the world that in hearing stories 
the emotional life of the child unfolds and develops. 
As the principles advocated by Froebel were in- 
corporated into the kindergarten, story-telling was 
given a definite place there. But beyond the 
kindergarten no provision was made for it in the 
school curriculum. That it might be of value to 
older children as well as to those of preschool age, 
seemingly did not occur to any American educator 
until about the beginning of the present century. 
Then it crept into a few private and public experi- 
mental schools, and was found to be of great value 
in illuminating geography and history, in the 
teaching of civics and nature study, and in leading 
to an appreciation of literature. Later it was 
discovered that interest in and enjoyment of both 
art and music could be enhanced through the 
medium of the story, and that even technical sub- 
jects like arithmetic and spelling could sometimes 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 20 


be enlivened by it. Gradually but steadily the 
use of stories in the schoolroom increased, until 
at the present time, in several American cities 
supervising story-tellers are a part of the elementary 
school faculty. A number of colleges and universi- 
ties have added story-telling courses to the curric- 
ulum, in order better to equip both grade and high- 
school teachers for their work. All this has come 
about because educators have found that system- 
atic, well-planned story-telling is of great value 
in stimulating the interest of the children in the 
schoolroom subjects. Lessons learned while interest 
runs high are impressed deeply and lastingly upon 
the young mind. Therefore the story, because of 
its power to lend interest to what otherwise might 
be dull and unenjoyable, is proving to be a tre- 
mendous aid in all schools where it is skillfully and 
wisely used. 

Story-telling in social service work.—In none of 
the many fields where story-telling is being used 
is it achieving more gratifying results than in social 
service work. In public play-grounds, in recrea- 
tion centers, in settlement houses, in parks and on 
the streets of the larger towns in the United States 
story-telling is proving a boon to social-service 
workers. Through it, as in no other way, has it 
been possible for the leaders to win the confidence 
of the so-called ‘‘toughs’? who gather at all these 
centers. Through the medium of stories in which 
rough boys lose themselves, unconsciously higher 
ethical standards are established, and the seeds of 
good citizenship are sown. 

A boy of the type commonly known as a street 
bully appeared at a playground in a large Western 


30 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


city not long ago and began abusing the younger 
children and boasting that he would “clear out 
the place.”” As he proceeded to make good his 
threat the ‘‘gypsy story-teller’ arrived. (Gypsy 
story-telling, by the way, is bringing about remark- 
able results in social-service work. ‘Trained story- 
tellers in gypsy costume visit playgrounds and other 
centers. The costume itself is like a lodestone to 
draw the children. Immediately upon the arrival 
of the picturesque visitor she is surrounded by a 
curious group. Seizing her opportunity without 
delay, she begins a tale through which she presents 
some lesson the children need to learn.) The boy 
who intended to “clear out” the playground was as 
much attracted by the “gypsy” as any of the other 
children. The first story he heard from her was 
one of courage, of a lad who substituted for a sick 
street-sweeper, despite the jeers of his playfellows, 
in order that the old man might receive pay, even 
though he could not work. The young bully 
listened, absorbed from the beginning to the end 
of the tale. ‘Then he called eagerly, ‘Tell another 
one!’ 

That same boy appeared at the playground 
regularly for many weeks afterward, but there was 
no further trouble with him. In the pleasure that 
came with each visit of the gypsy story-teller and 
in the appeal of principles her tales emphasized to 
him, his intention to make trouble melted away. 

Dozens of examples can be cited by experienced 
workers, of the beneficial results of story-telling 
upon children of the slums. 

Story-telling among the adult foreign-born.— 
Through the medium of the story many American- 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING ai 


ization workers are winning the confidence of for- 
eign-born men and women, and are doing more 
effective work in teaching the meaning of American 
traditions and awakening loyalty toward the same 
than they have been able to do in any other way. 
In New York, Chicago, Boston—almost every great 
city, in fact, that is coping with the problem of 
laying the foundation of good citizenship among 
foreign-born adults as well as _ children—social- 
service workers enthusiastically agree that too 
high a value can hardly be placed upon the story 
as a tool for the leader and teacher. They bear 
out their claim by citing examples out of their own 
experience. 

Story-telling in religious instruction.—The story 
is as valuable a means for the religious teacher as 
it is for the social-service worker. Children respond 
naturally to the story. Messages contained in it 
are received with profound respect and confidence. 
It influences both habits and thoughts. The 
story can awaken religious feeling as nothing else 
can do. It puts listeners into a reverent attitude 
and makes them fertile soil in which to sow the 
thought seeds of spirituality. Through the medium 
of the story the boy or girl can be led to reverence 
God and his handiwork, to do his or her part to- 
ward keeping the laws of Christ vitally operative 
in society. Patriotic feeling, loyalty to flag and 
country have been aroused and strengthened down 
the long span of the ages by the lips of the story- 
teller. They are being aroused and strengthened 
now in our great cities by workers who understand 
that by the wisely chosen narrative the emotions 
that led to patriotic service are called into play. 

EQUCATION ER OTIS ROG 
100 STOCKTON 87. 
BRINCETON, M. & 


32 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION , 


The emotions that foster reverence for God also 
can be awakened through the medium of the story, 
provided the tale is one that satisfies the intelligence 
as well as touches the feelings, and, provided the 
narrator himself takes it seriously. 

The Bible the greatest of all story books.— 
Whoever tells Bible stories skillfully and with 
sincerity can hardly fail to awaken reverence and 
establish belief in God, because the Bible is the 
greatest storybook the world has ever known. Its 
tales are saturated with human interest. They 
satisfy both the intellectual and moral sense. The 
characters are types that appeal to ordinary human 
beings, because they themselves are so intensely 
human. One does not need to be refined to the 
point of fastidiousness in order to understand 
them. The Old Testament heroes are elemental, 
faulty men who are rewarded according to their 
desserts. The men of the New Testament are of 
much the same type, with the figure of Jesus of 
Nazareth towering above them like a white flame 
on a mountain, brightening their lives with his 
beneficent influence and doctrine, and leading them 
along paths of righteousness that would not have 
been chosen but for their belief in him. The 
Bible stories cover a wide range of interests. They 
contain spiritual food and pleasure for both the 
prattling child and the gray-haired grandfather. 
Tales of little children are in the Book of Israel, 
and tales of adults that feed little children. There 
are tales, too, of high endeavor and noble ideals, of 
picturesque patriarch, impassioned tribal leader, 
and sumptuous king striving to guide his people 
along the highway to civic splendor—stories that 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 33 


fire the loftiest emotions of which the adult is capa- 
ble. Every type of emergency that can arise in life 
is found somewhere in the Bible, arising in the life 
of one of its characters. It is an invaluable source 
of information, entertainment, and comfort for 
every period of life. It is suited to meet the emo- 
tional and spiritual needs of both children and 
grown-ups. 

The combination is ideal—a perfect medium of 
instruction and material that meets universal needs. 
Form and content both are suitable. Therefore 
the degree of success the story-teller in the field 
of religious education can attain in using this mate- 
rial, depends upon the individual, upon his enthu- 
siasm for the work, upon his skill and industry. 
In whatever measure he gives to it will results come 
back to him. 


THOUGHT QUESTIONS 


1. How were stories used by religious teachers and 
leaders during antiquity in Greece, China, and 
other lands? 

2. Describe the use of stories by the Hebrews and 
by Christ; by Buddah, and by Mohammed. 

3. What two groups of story-tellers were there in 
Europe during the Dark Ages? Describe the 
influence of the missionaries as_ story-tellers 
among the tribesmen. 

4. What was the first method of systematic educa- 
tion? Describe the first schools of Europe. 

5. How was story-telling used in religious and 
educational work during Medieval times? 

6. How was story-telling used as a method of 
instruction in Colonial times? 


34 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


7. What is the secret of the universal appeal of the 
story? Describe how stories affected standards 
of life in Norway and various European lands. 

8. How is the story being used in educational work 
to-day, in school and social-service work? In 
religious work? 

9. How does the Bible compare with the other 
great books of the world as a storybook? 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 35 


CHAPTER II 


THE PURPOSEFUL USE OF THE STORY 


SUCCESS with story-telling in the religious field, 
as in any other, is possible only to the narrator 
who has a purpose in the use of the story, and who 
keeps that purpose clearly in mind. He must 
have a definite idea of what his tales are to accom- 
plish both now and later or he will give them to 
little purpose. He must understand what tran- 
spires in the minds and hearts of his auditors as they 
follow him, and skillfully lead them along paths 
where he desires them to go. 


AROUSING INTEREST AND SYMPATHY 


Interest is the key that unlocks the gate into the 
realm where educational results are achieved. Being 
interested in the story, the child follows the char- 
acters with eagerness. Interest begets sympathy. 
Sympathy enables one to share experience with 
others. In sharing the experiences of the charac- 
ters, the pupil has a feeling of reality for the truths 
or principles the story emphasizes. This feeling 
of reality tends to cause those truths or principles 
to function in his behavior. Without sympathy 
on the part of the child toward a story, no benefit 
will result from his hearing it. Approval, dis- 
approval, pity, disdain, and the various emotions 
must be awakened. ‘There must be response to all 
the characters in a narrative as one reacts to the 


36 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


individuals in life. The hearer must feel respect 
or contempt for them if he is to be swayed by their 
actions. He must desire to emulate or determine 
to make himself wholly unlike them. The person- 
ages in a tale call forth some real response. They 
must be noble, base, delightful, or repulsive, as the 
case may be, to the listener. 

Necessity of sustaining interest.—lIt is clear that 
the story-teller must aim, first of all, to do that 
which will arouse interest. But to arouse interest 
in the beginning is not enough. He must sustain 
it. From the opening sentence to the closing one 
his listeners must be keenly alert, for when interest 
lags, emotions slumber. If there is no eagerness 
on the part of the children to get each succeeding 
step in a tale, the narrator talks to little purpose. 
Therefore whenever he senses an attitude of indif- 
ference it behooves him to get at the cause speedily 
and to remedy it. 

This is the most difficult task that confronts the 
beginner in the field of oral narration, but the 
right kind of preparation will enable him to begin 
his tales secure in the knowledge that he will hold 
attention from the beginning to the end of the story 
period. If he knows the cause of lagging interest, 
he can overcome the difficulty, but, like the phy- 
sician, if the reason for the symptoms is not under- 
stood, the prescription may aggravate the ailment 
instead of acting as a curative. 

Reasons for lack of interest.—Indifference on 
the part of children listening to a story may be due to 
one or both of two reasons: The tale itself is lacking 
in dramatic and emotional appeal, which means 
it is not a suitable one for telling; it is unsuited to 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 39 


the age and understanding of those hearing it; or 
it is poorly told. Because of unsuitability to the 
group hearing it, or because of lack of artistry on 
the part of the narrator, its message is not grasped. 

When lack of interest is due to choice of wrong 
material.—The old adage that an ounce of pre- 
vention is worth a pound of cure applies forcefully 
in the field of story-telling. The trained narrator 
will never make the mistake of choosing material 
that is not of the right type for oral presentation, 
or that is unsuited to the age and development of 
those hearing it. Even the untrained worker 
using the graded Sunday-school lessons is not likely 
to meet with indifference due to the stories them- 
selves, because those included in the leaflets and 
teachers’ guides are supposed to be selected with 
a view to fitness both as to age suitability and dra- 
matic appeal. 

But the mother, the librarian, or settlement 
worker is likely to be dismayed sometimes to find 
the audience growing restless when she is reasonably 
certain she is telling the story well. When this 
happens, the only thing to do is to get to the end 
of that tale as soon as possible and begin one that 
is sure to be liked. Otherwise it will be difficult 
to hold that same group on future occasions. To 
the small child—even to those of adolescent years 
—the story-teller is a magician. For her to give 
a narrative that fails to delight is to lose her magic 
in their eyes. She may seem to lose it for a moment, 
yet become again the enchanter who spirits them 
into Never-never lands. But to leave with them, 
when they go from the story period, an impression 
of having failed, is to make them reluctant to return. 


38 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


It is imperative that a tale that is received with 
indifference be succeeded by one that leaves pleasant 
memories. 

When poor presentation is the cause of lack of 
interest.— Careful preparation will forestall one 
type of lack of interest. The experienced or trained 
story-teller never makes the mistake of beginning 
a tale without knowing that she can tell it well. 
She understands the disastrous results that are 
sure to follow slovenly presentation. But the 
beginner, not realizing that to lose the interest of an 
individual or a group is to arouse prejudice that 
will pave her path with difficulty in the future, 
sometimes plunges into a story without the necessary 
preparation. When this mistake has been made, 
and she realizes that the attention of the children 
is wandering from the thread of the story, she must 
regain that attention before she ends the tale. 
Otherwise her audience will go from her believing 
she does not know how to tell stories, and will not 
return of their own volition. Children are keen 
and merciless judges in this matter. Very quickly 
they sense poor craftsmanship on the part of the 
narrator. Once she has failed in their eyes they 
have no regard for her as a story-teller and her 
power to influence them through stories is at an end. 

To regain interest once it has been lost is a very 
difficult task, but it caw be done. It can be done 
by fusing color and action into the various situa- 
tions, according to methods that, with study and 
practice, become part of the narrator’s equipment. 
Sometimes it can be done by means of a pause, 
which serves both to arouse curiosity on the part 
of the listeners and to provide the story-teller with 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 39 


a moment of thought that makes it possible for her 
to speed up the action of the tale. These various 
methods are discussed in detail in the chapter on 
telling the story. 


PROVIDING USEFUL KNOWLEDGE 


The arousing of interest and awakening of sym- 
pathy are of paramount importance in story-telling, 
because without them all other aims are impossible. 
But the narrator who deserves the name is far more 
than an entertainer. Like the story-teller during 
the Dark Ages and Medizval times, he is a teacher, 
a message-bringer. Always he has some lesson 
to leave with his listeners; some truth he aims to 
impress lastingly upon their minds. In order to 
teach, it is necessary to give useful information. 
To teach successfully necessitates giving information 
in such a way that it is received with interest and 
enthusiasm. Otherwise it is of little lasting benefit, 
because information received with indifference makes 
no deep impression. It is not truly learned and 
therefore does not result either in improved scholar- 
ship or desire for better conduct. 

The purpose of story-telling in religious educa- 
tion is to build up Christian character, to establish 
in the child a permanent consciousness of God and 
a knowledge of the inevitable working of God’s 
laws, developing that consciousness from lower 
to higher stages; to create an abiding reverential 
attitude toward all things religious, to establish 
ideals and strengthen beliefs—all this is involved 
in the building of Christian character. 

Stories that are properly selected contain infor- 
mation concerning the character of God, the Bible, 


40 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


the church, the men and women who have lived 
noble Christian lives, the hymns, prayers, and other 
materials used in worship, religious art and artists, 
and the best thoughts of the great theologians. 
Stories may be used to teach all of these subjects. 
It is not necessary that every story told should be 
the vehicle of new information. But the value of 
stories for this purpose should have careful consider- 
ation. 

Giving the child a knowledge of the workings 
of God’s laws.—A factor of tremendous importance 
in religious education is that of bringing the child, 
while very young, into a realization of the inevi- 
table workings of God’s laws. He needs to learn 
that the Father he is taught to worship is not only 
a God of love but a God of justice. There is no 
escape from paying the penalty that follows viola- 
tion of his laws. Moral self-control is necessary. 
For the boy or girl to understand this during the 
first five or six years of his life is to toughen and 
strengthen the quality of his moral fiber. 

Dr. G. Stanley Hall declares that the slow reali- 
zation by the child that the laws of God are not 
evadible and suspendible, but changeless, and that 
their penalties are as sure as the workings of the 
laws of nature, is the most important factor of 
moral and religious training.’ Therefore this psy- 
chologist maintains that in the child’s conception 
of God, he should appear distant and vague, inspir- 
ing awe and reverence even more than love; that 
he should be the God of nature rather than one 
who administers to the child’s individual wants. 

1 Youth, Its Education, Regimen, and Hygiene, page 355. 
D. Appleton & Co., 1922. 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 41 


For a boy or girl to understand very early that 
there is no favoritism in God’s plan is to render him 
more amenable to both the moral and the religious 
code. It makes it possible for him to fit harmo- 
niously into conditions of life that are disagreeable 
and hard to him, against which, without having 
gained this knowledge, he might be inclined to rebel. 

In other words, the child should be led to see that 
God’s plan embraces the great universe. It is not 
designed for the comfort or convenience of one 
individual. No matter how great the desire of that 
individual may be, it does not bend because of his 
pleasure. It is a plan of love mighty enough to 
include all mankind, and to cover not only an hour 
or a day of life but the entire course. Therefore 
what ofttimes seems hard about the working of 
God’s laws, is hard only because we do not see 
our own lives or those of others in an unblurred 
perspective. We glimpse but the portion that is 
encompassed within the present. God’s plan is 
devised to work for the welfare of the whole, not 
just a part. It is because these laws work ulti- 
mately for the good of the individual and of the 
world that they are immutable; like the course of 
the fixed stars. For the child to realize that he is 
but an atom in this great plan, instead of the center 
around which it revolves, is to render him less self- 
ish, and to engender in him consideration for the 
rights of others, who, like himself, are children of 
the same heavenly Father, and heirs in the same 
measure as himself to omnipotent love and care. 
He who understands that 

“The great God who loveth us, 
He made and loveth all,” 


42 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


and who believes in the inevitable workings of the 
laws of that God, is not likely to demand grati- 
fication of his own desires and pleasures at the 
price of discomfort or injury to others. 

Bible stories demonstrate the inevitable workings 
of God’s laws.—This realization of the inevitable 
working of God’s laws comes to the boy or girl who 
hears Bible stories. Throughout the Old Testament 
—and the New—wrongdoing brings never-failing 
punishment. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God 
they were sent out of the Garden Beautiful. When 
the generations of Noah thought to ignore the Lord 
and built a tower whose top would reach to heaven, 
they were scattered abroad upon the face of the 
earth, unable to understand one another’s speech. 
The wrath of God pursued Jonah when he fled 
toward Tarshish instead of going to Ninevah. The 
Bible is so rich in tales that show the inevitable 
working of God’s laws that whoever gives them 
understandingly and skillfully cannot fail to leave 
with children the realization'that they must obey 
or pay the penalty. In following the characters 
in a story this realization comes very vividly. 

The value of nature stories.—Tales that illus- 
trate the workings of the laws of nature, which, as 
demonstrated elsewhere, are religious narratives to 
the child, help to bring about a realization of the 
immutability of God’s laws. The autumnal season 
is not prolonged because a husbandman who has 
devoted his time to pleasure and neglected to gather 
in his harvest cries vehemently for aid when he 
sees disaster ahead. Winter comes at the allotted 
time, and all who have failed to make provision 
for it must take the consequences. The bees know 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 43 


this, and the squirrels, and all other creatures of 
the woods and fields, and unfailingly the changing 
seasons find them prepared. Birds nest and hatch 
in the spring, because, if they wait until mid-summer, 
the young will be too weak for the long pilgrimage 
to warmer regions, or to endure the rigors of winter 
if they are species that remain through the snow 
time. If Bible stories and nature tales had no other 
function in the child’s spiritual life, they would be 
a necessary part of his training, because they 
make him see that he must obey the laws of God 
if he would be happy. 


INSPIRING CHRISTIAN ATTITUDES 


The child may realize the immutability of omnip- 
otent laws, and believe vaguely that God is in all 
things without growing into a truly Christian char- 
acter. In order that he may come into a conscious- 
ness of God he must feel God in the world around 
him and must have a disposition to obey. He 
must sense behind the cliffs, groves, and streams 
hidden, beneficent forces that bespeak good will 
toward mankind. He must experience a feeling 
of kinship with nature and with unseen things. 

The child is apt to run away from the thought 
of the disagreeable. Therefore it is of utmost 
importance that he see obedience as a road to 
happiness. Goodness for its own sake does not 
appeal to him, if the way of goodness seems hard. 
But goodness as a bringer of happiness is very 
appealing, because happiness is a goal which he can 
appreciate. Through the medium of the story 
. goodness becomes attractive, the broad highway 
to the thing that is most desired in life. 


44 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


The story not merely a source of information.— 
In thinking of the story as a medium of religious 
education one should not make the mistake of re- 
garding it chiefly as a source of information. In- 
formation it does give, and it is necessary that the 
child receive much information in order to grow in 
Christian character. But giving information is but 
a means to an end. As Doctor Betts says, ‘““The 
end sought is desired changes in the life, thought, 
and experiences of the child.” The purpose of the 
story is to mirror life so as to awaken feeling and 
desire, to create moods that make possible the estab- 
lishment of ideals that shall function in behavior. 

Facts can be taught through abstract axiom 
and precept. Through drill and repetition they 
can be fixed in the memory as lastingly as the 
numerical combinations. But facts hammered into 
the mind by a mechanical process do not touch the 
heart and quicken the emotions. Therefore such 
facts are not likely to create ideals and mould 
character. 

The great teacners of the world all understood 
this, and presented truth through concrete example. 
Realizing that they were dealing with vibrant, 
throbbing human beings, they used material that 
reflected human experience. Living material, skill- 
fully presented, never fails to obtain results. It is 
possible to teach many facts that play no part in 
shaping ideals. It is possible to give a vast amount 
of information the mind will retain, that is not 
productive of a single enthusiasm or resolve. But 
facts presented through the medium of the story, 
truths brought home to the hearer through joy or 
distress realized as coming to those who have heeded 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 45 


or ignored those truths, do shape ideals and quicken 
enthusiasm that affect the daily life. 

A girl in an eighth grade in a public school was a 
source of distress to her teacher and annoyance to 
the entire class because of her habitual lying. Star- 
tling accusations were brought against some of her 
fellow pupils almost every day. She told wild 
yarns of experiences to and from school, at home, 
and on the playground. She charged her parents 
with acts they never had committed. This prac- 
tice had been carried on until no one who knew 
her placed any reliance in what she said. She knew 
it, yet still she persisted in her falsehoods. She 
came from a home in which every effort had been 
made to instil truth in the children. Her wild 
tales were a source of deep grief to her parents, 
who had become utterly discouraged in their efforts 
to make her truthful. 

The teacher studied the case from every angle. 
After conferring with the parents, and learning the 
methods that had been pursued in the home in 
attempting to correct the habit, she decided to try 
the effect of stories. She planned a program of a 
story each day, one that was full of action and 
interest to the pupils and in which the effect of 
lying, misrepresentation, or exaggeration was em- 
phasized. It required much tact, and much hard 
work to make out such a program, for.that teacher 
knew well that tales crudely pointing a moral would 
antagonize the girl. By going to many sources 
for material, however, she finally obtained enough 
stories of the type she needed to fill the recreation 
story period for a month. 

The girl in question was an eager listener when- 


46 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


ever tales were told. She was particularly fond 
of stories, and expressed a marked liking for several 
that made up the various programs. On _ two 
occasions, when pupils were to write a composition 
on some subject of their own choosing, she wrote 
reviews of the tales that had especially appealed 
to her. But no change was observed in her conduct. 
She told falsehoods as freely at the end of the third 
week of story programs as she had told them at the 
beginning. The teacher felt decidedly discouraged, 
yet she determined not to give up in her effort to 
effect some improvement in the habits of a pupil 
who was in all other respects most likable. 

Toward the end of the fourth week she told a 
story of a soldier in the Russian army who was 
executed because of the misrepresentation of one 
of his comrades. The youth had not maliciously 
set out to destroy the boy, but in the hope of gain 
to himself had circulated a report he meant later 
on to acknowledge as false. The accuser was sent 
with a message from his commander to a general in 
a distant province, and upon his return was horrified 
to find that during his absence his comrade had 
faced a firing squad. 

_ Unmistakably the girl was deeply affected by 
the tale. Throughout the remainder of the after- 
noon she seemed depressed and restless. The 
following morning she came to school early. Meet- 
ing the teacher as she approached the building, she 
asked if she might go in and help her. Upon getting 
into the room she burst into tears. ‘‘Miss Adams,” 
she exclaimed, “I’ve made you a lot of trouble by 
telling things that were not true, but I’m never 
going to do it again. That story you told yester- 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 47 


day makes me shiver whenever I think of it. I 
never dreamed that making up things when you 
don’t mean to do any harm could cause anything 
as terrible as that.” 

As nearly as was possible, considering the force 
of long habit, the girl kept to her resolve. The 
improvement in her became very marked, and from 
a pupil so untruthful that she was nicknamed by 
her classmates ‘‘Lying Patsy,” she grew to be one 
whose word could be thoroughly relied upon. 

The transformation effected by the story in this 
case is not unusual in the experience of narrators. 
Habits of falsehood, cruelty, slovenliness, laziness, 
and rudeness have been overcome, sometimes bya 
single tale, often by the systematic and regular 
telling of stories tending to correct those tendencies. 
There is no trait that needs to be cultivated in a 
child, no mood or desire that needs to be created, 
that cannot, generally speaking, be cultivated or 
created through the telling of the apt story. In 
the same way, through the medium of the story, 
undesirable traits can be overcome. 

There are, it is true, children who are seemingly 
in conflict with any system of instruction, no matter 
how delightful that system may be to the average, 
normal child, and occasionally the most skillful 
story-tellers using ideal material fail to obtain the 
results they have hoped to obtain. But the child 
who does not yield to the appeal of the story is not 
a normal child. Moreover, he is: very rare. The 
average child responds as unfailingly to tales as he 
responds to the urge to play. His ethical life can 
be enriched and beautified by them. By them his 
religious life can be nurtured into full flower. 


48 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


The attitudes of the young child similar to those of 
primitive man.—The very young child resembles 
primitive man in the time when he worshiped the 
sun and endowed animals with supernatural quali- 
ties. Out of this sun adoration and animistic belief 
grew the world’s first stories, the nature myths and 
fairy tales that have become our nursery narratives. 
They were religious stories to the jungle and hill 
men who first told them. They are saturated with 
primeval belief in the power of the sun and other 
saving forces of nature that in them figure as the 
wise and beneficent fairy godmother, a king devoted 
to the welfare of his subjects, or some other pro- 
tecting creature. 

Ancient stories early man’s explanation of the 
mysteries of nature.—These ancient stories are 
redolent of awe and longing, of desire to know about 
the vast unknown beyond the narrow confines of 
the tribal camp ground. The groping, eager tellers 
peopled this world of mystery with characters such 
as they desired and hoped its inhabitants to be. 
These primitive narratives were to early man what 
science is to the people of to-day, an explanation 
of forces that perpetually aroused their wonder, an 
account of the origin of the oceans, peaks, and 
rivers that hemmed them in. Having no way of 
getting at the truth, their imaginings concerning all 
that was mystery ran wild. In talking to each other 
they portrayed causes as they fancied them to be. 

That this was the case even during the Middle 
Ages we know from legends of the twelfth and 
thirteenth centuries that have come down to us. 
Crusaders returning from Palestine came by the 
Liparian Islands, where, on Vulcano and Stromboli 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 49 


are numerous openings due to volcanic agencies 
that geologists know as fumeroles. From time to 
time these holes emit smoke and sulphurous vapors, 
some of them intermittently, some almost without 
cessation. This manifestation of heat forces within 
the earth has been going on there for centuries, 
and when the crusaders came within sight and 
smell of a phenomenon that is now well understood, 
they fled from the vicinity in terror. 

Shortly afterward, throughout Italy, Germany, 
France, and England there spread a story that on 
this island group below the boot of Italy was an 
open passage into hell. Men who had traveled that 
way had seen proof of it in the smoke and fumes 
that poured out of a great black hole. This story 
thus circulated became a powerful factor in develop- 
ing certain moral attitudes. 

Another belief current throughout France and 
Switzerland during the Middle Ages, and _ held 
there even yet by the peasantry in some districts, 
is that the great bowlders so common in this region 
were brought from the Alps by a race of giants. 
Geologists know they were carried down by vanished 
glaciers, but only within the last century, when 
Louis Agassiz spent an entire summer on the Laute- 
raar glacier and made an exhaustive study of the 
work of the moving ice, did they find out the truth. 
But the belief handed down from ancient times 
had become so deep-rooted that it is not yet eradi- 
cated. There is a lengthy cycle of fairy stories told 
by French and Swiss peasants that center around 
these bowlders. 

The American Indians in the Lake Willoughby 
region of Vermont had a legend that the rocks 


50 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


along the shore and within the bed of that body of 
water—also deposited by glaciers—were once a 
race of warriors turned to stone by the Great Spirit 
because of their ceaseless fighting. The tribes of 
northern California believed Mount Shasta was 
the tepee of the Great Spirit, and the smoke that 
sometimes poured out of an opening near the summit 
—evidence of the volcanic nature of the mountain 
—came from a fire the Mighty One kept eternally 
burning within it to keep him warm. 

_ Similar legends cluster around the volcanoes of 
the South Seas. The Indians of the Grand Canyon 
region have a wonder story of how that gorge came 
to be. And so we find it in the tales of all primitive 
peoples. Through them move wicked giants who 
are conquered or destroyed by greater and better 
forces, a reflection of desire on the part of bewildered 
tribesmen for right to triumph over wrong, for warmth 
and light ever to be victorious over the monsters of 
darkness. The repetition and reiteration of tales 
in which these destructive forces were overcome 
gave early man a sense of protection, of security 
in a world awesome and mysterious. 

The little child repeats many of the experiences 
of his aboriginal forefathers. The mystery and 
vastness of the world about him arouses wonder, 
longing, awe. One has but to observe his reaction 
to a gorgeous sunset, a hillside swathed in flowers, 
or the rhythmic boom of the ocean as breakers 
whip the shore to realize the truth of this statement. 
Both the questions he asks and the expression of 
face and eyes as he gazes on the marvel, reflect his 
wonder and desire to know the cause. Very often, 
in that expression, as well as in his queries, wonder- 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 51 


ment and awe are mingled. Jt is the business of 
the religious teacher to see to it that he feels this force 
to be friendly toward him and senses God in tt, in- 
stead of regarding ti as somethimg to be feared. 

Attitude of young child toward nature essentially 
religious.—The problem of inspiring the child with 
a God-consciousness during his early years is greatly 
simplified, because his attitude toward nature is 
essentially religious. His heart and mind are like 
a fertile field, plowed, harrowed and ready for the 
seed of the sower. The seed will germinate as does 
that scattered in rich loam soil when every con- 
dition is propitious. It is of utmost importance 
that this seed be planted now. A consciousness 
of God needs to be awakened in the child while he 
is reaching out to receive it. At no other time 
in his life is he so responsive to unknown forces 
around him. No impressions are as lasting as his 
earliest ones. The influences of the first five or 
six years of his life are more potent in shaping his 
ideals and attitudes than are any others. He 
who has seen and felt God in nature during early 
childhood is not likely, when an adult, to lose that 
God-consciousness. Men who have traveled the 
highway of crime have been regenerated through 
some happening that aroused in them a dormant 
God-consciousness and bearing toward righteousness 
established in childhood. 

The story the most powerful means of inspiring 
God-consciousness.—No means available to the 
religious leader is as effective as the story in 
inspiring this God-consciousness, and in nurturing 
it once it has been inspired. Because of its power 
to make situations real and vivid, the story has 


52 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


potentialities for touching the sensitive chords of 
feeling, and to render more responsive and vibrant 
those already awakened. The account of the crea- 
tion, simply and dramatically told, with emphasis 
on God’s wisdom in putting man into the world, 
and protecting him after placing him there, like a 
loving, thoughtful father, arouses reverence and a 
sense of security in a world vast and often terrifying. 
To hear that the mountains and rivers are his 
handiwork, “the seas and all that in them is,” and 
that the same wisdom and tenderness have gone 
into the fashioning of a beetle as in the creating of 
man, the lord of the universe, will give a child a 
sense of kinship with nature and a regard for all 
of God’s creatures that will not depart from him. 
Years of neglect in his later training may submerge 
this early impression, or blur it, but it will not be 
wholly effaced. The right influence will rekindle 
the old reverence. 

God-consciousness must be developed from lower 
stages to higher.—Besides inspiring the child with a 
consciousness of God, and leading him to see the 
inevitable working of God’s laws, it is the mission 
of the religious teacher to develop this consciousness 
from lower to higher stages. This means that once 
reverence for God and belief in him are established, 
they must be fed and nurtured. The husbandman 
who deserves the name does not sow a field and 
then leave it neglected for tares to creep in and 
dwarf the tender growths. The human plant 
requires as much care as corn or wheat. From 
the beginning on through the days of adolescence 
the work of nurturing should be continued in order 
to meet the needs of boys and girls in the various 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 53 


stages of development. All along the way they 
should be led to see the hand of God in the world; 
to know that as he was with the people of Israel, 
strengthening them according to their needs and 
rewarding them according to their merits, so is he 
with his people to-day. By concrete example, by 
portraying men living their lives and: working out 
their destinies, the story makes this clear. 

The Bible holds sufficient story material to feed 
the boy or girl from early childhood to maturity, 
and to continue feeding him after adult years are 
reached. P. W. Wilson,! writing recently, speaks 
in these words, of the Bible as the great book 
for all the ages of man: ‘The Bible is not ‘only 
a shrine in itself; it is a portal. Unless you 
know your Bible, Rubens and Rembrandt, Durer 
and Giotto, yes, and Sargent when he painted 
prophets for Boston instead of portraits for Britain, 
leave you far behind. For anything except the 
good it spoils the palate. It is a genuine preserv- 
ative of what ought to endure. It was in the 
Bible that John Bunyan found the cadences of his 
Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bright the majestic sim- 
plicity of his speeches, and Abraham Lincoln his 
Gettysburg address. It is to be doubted whether 
any statesman or any writer has risen to real emi- 
nence without having the Bible in him.” 

One of the salient characteristics of those in 
adolescent years is an eagerness for immediate 
results, a desire for sowing without reaping. Pre- 
cept and admonition are usually futile in making 
them see that there can be no lasting structure 
without a carefully laid foundation. But thestory, 

1 Literary Review, January 12, 1924. 





54 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


with its picturing of life, can make them see it. 
Therefore the well-chosen and skillfully told nar- 
rative has a salutary effect during this “age of 
intemperate haste,’’ as the adolescent period has 
been called, that cannot be overestimated. 

Summary of chapter.—Summing up, then, the 
purpose of the story in religious education is to 
build Christian character. In order to do this it 
is necessary to awaken religious feeling in the 
child, reverence for God and his handiwork, and to 
inspire him with a God-consciousness that will 
result in creating standards and establishing ideals. 
It is necessary also to bring to him a realization of 
the inevitable working of God’s laws, yet at the same 
time to feel good will in the working of those laws, 
and sufficient dependence on that good will to render 
him obedient, no matter at what cost, to ideals 
that he feels represent the noblest and best in life. 

This aim can be achieved only by arousing 
interest in and appreciation of suitable subject 
matter, subject matter that mirrors life in such a 
way that the child sees and feels that which it is 
necessary for him to see and feel, and, through 
seeing and feeling, comes into understanding and 
reverence. 

Therefore the preparation of the story-teller 
must be twofold: 1. He must equip himself to tell 
stories so skillfully and sympathetically that he 
cannot fail to arouse both interest and sympathy. 
2. He must be able to choose material that tends 
to inspire God-consciousness, and that will bring 
to his hearers the knowledge of the inevitable 
workings of God’s laws it is imperative that they 
should have. 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 55 


THOUGHT QUESTIONS 


. What are the reasons for lack of interest on the 
part of those hearing a story? 

. What is the necessary procedure on the part 
of the story-teller when a story fails to interest 
because of being unsuited to those hearing it? 
. How is it possible to regain interest? 

. What is the purpose of story-telling in religious 
education? 

. What knowledge should be given a child in 
order for him to realize the purpose of story- 
telling in religious education? 

. Explain the value of Bible stories in showing 
the working of God’s laws; of nature stories. 
. Why is it important that the little child see 
obedience as a road to happiness? 

. How is it possible, through the use of stories, to 
inspire a child with a consciousness of God? 


56 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


CHAPTER III 
THE STRUCTURE OF THE STORY 


A FRENCH psychologist once made the statement 
that there are as many different stories in the 
world as pebbles. When one thinks of the count- 
less narratives that printed pages hold, and then 
remembers the vast number of others that comprise 
the spoken literature of various countries, narra- 
tives that never have been put into book form, but 
that have been handed down generation after gen- 
eration by word of mouth, and are still repeated at 
peasant firesides, in huts and tepees, where the ways 
of life are primitive, one realizes that the statement 
is no exaggeration. 

The South Sea islander has his myths and legends 
that, night after night, are recounted under the 
moon and stars. The Ethiopian in the African 
jungles, the mountaineers of Afghanistan, the 
plainsmen of Farther India, the shepherds of the 
Balkans, the Eskimo in the frozen northlands, and 
the Indians of the Americas all have hundreds of 
stories, tales that have passed from the old to the 
young and from century to century by the tongues 
of men and women. These all make up a literature 
as carefully preserved and definitely established as 
an expression of a people’s thought as is much of the 
French or the English literature. Besides these 
tales there are millions upon millions of narratives 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 57 


in books, so many that an attempt to estimate the 
number bewilders one. Truly the stories in the 
world seem as innumerable as pebbles. 


ALL GREAT STORIES ARE ALIKE IN STRUCTURE 


Each tale that deserves the name is distinct and 
different from every other tale, yet in one respect 
they are all alike. They are the same in structure. 
The nature myth of the Fiji tribesman and the 
highly artistic narrative of Hugo, Dickens, or 
Turgenieff are built according to the same pattern. 
The framework around which their creators have 
woven them is the same in every land. The skeleton 
used by Joseph Conrad or Blasco Ibafiez to-day 
was used also by the aboriginal men who, out of 
their fear and wonder concerning nature, fashioned 
the first tales the world knows. The only differ- 
ence is, early man did not analyze as he built, and 
consciously follow any formula or set of rules. The 
present-day narrator, whether his yarns be spoken 
or written, has evolved, through a study of old 
stories and the elements in them that awakened 
and held the interest of men, a technique and 
knowledge of structure that he follows as punc- 
tiliously as the painter follows his formula for 
obtaining color combinations. Wherever he follows 
this formula, provided he has also intelligence and 
enthusiasm for story-telling, he does not fail of 
SUCCESS. 

All primitive tales dramatic because of conflict.— 
All primitive peoples had a highly developed sense 
of the dramatic, due to the fact that the environ- 
ment in which they lived teemed with mystery. 
Life was a tense and highly exciting drama to them. 


58 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


Eagerness to know about the forces of nature, which 
they did not understand, kept suspense constantly 
keyed to a high pitch. Always they were won- 
dering about what was going to happen to them. 
When a tempest raged, an avalanche roared, or 
lightning streaked the sky, terror was mingled with — 
wonder. It is because these stories reflect Nature, 
the Mysterious, and portray the lives of those who 
lived in fear of nature, that they abound in sus- 
pense and surprises. 

The narrator on the Asiatic highlands before the 
Aryans set forth on the great migration, gave to 
his fellows tales replete with the suspense the world 
held for him. With the opening sentences he 
pictured to them in a terse, spectacular way the 
setting of his narrative, and introduced the char- 
acter or characters moving through it. He kept 
these characters in constant action from start to 
finish, and let down the curtain upon the last scene 
in the moment when the curiosity of his auditors 
was satisfied as to the outcome, but while interest 
and sympathy were still running high. He gave 
to them what satisfied himself as an explanation 
of something that had aroused his curiosity or 
kindled his fear. The only satisfactory explanation 
involved characters in conflict, as the forces of nature 
seemed to be, darkness and light ever struggling 
to overcome each other,—wind and calm, heat 
and cold. He too was in a constant struggle for 
existence with wild animals that prowled upon his 
camp place. Life to him was an endless battle 
to keep from becoming food for some other creature, 
and to obtain enough food for himself to ward off 
starvation. Always he carried with him some 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 59 


unsatisfied desire. Therefore he introduced con- 
flict and desire into his stories. They made up the 
essence of his life. 


STORIES ABOUND IN DRAMATIC INTEREST 


The element of conflict and desire that entered 
so largely into the racial tales is what scholars to- 
day know as dramatic interest. It is conflict between 
human beings, between human beings and animals, 
between human beings and the forces of nature, or 
between animals and some opposing force. Animal 
stories hold suspense because they deal with living 
creatures, but tales of flowers, trees, and mountains 
do not, unless they are personified. Suspense is 
aroused only where conscious life is involved. 

The conflicting forces of nature were a source 
of suspense to early man, not because of themselves, 
but because he imagined them to be living, purpose- 
ful creatures, and because of the possible outcome 
of their struggle to each other and to himself. A 
story is dramatic only when it keeps the listener or 
reader in suspense as to the outcome and its effect 
upon the character or characters. It can arouse 
suspense only when there is conflict between the 
characters themselves, or between the characters 
and an opposing force or forces. The characters 
must be conscious, living, purposeful creatures. 

Conflict between the forces of nature that does 
not in any way affect life may be mighty, but it is 
not dramatic. Suspense comes only with knowledge 
of living creatures in difficulty or danger. An 
avalanche in an uninhabited part of the mountains 
or volcanic eruption on some unpeopled desert 
isle is in itself interesting to the scientist, but they 


60 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


do not stir the world at large because they do not 
affect life. 

A storm at sea may be terrible and spectacular 
as beheld from a distance, yet arouse no emotion 
in those who view it save admiration and awe of 
nature’s power. But if a ship is tossing at the mercy 
of that tempest, with every moment likelihood of 
being destroyed, that same gale becomes intensely — 
dramatic. Suspense runs high in all who see, hear, 
and know of the plight of the vessel. Fear, hope, 
anguish, and kindred emotions are aroused because 
of the possible fate of crew and passengers. 

A story to be dramatic must deal with active, 
intelligent creatures.—Many attempts have been 
made by those interested in nature study to give 
children stories about inanimate objects alone— 
trees, flowers, stones, stars, and mountains. Where 
these objects have been personified and endowed 
with the attributes of human beings the writers 
have succeeded. But they have succeeded only 
because of having introduced ‘human elements into 
their tales. Yet even the best of such stories are 
not highly popular with boys and girls. Artifi- 
ciality is detected in them. Being written by those 
who did not believe the objects to be human, children 
sense a false note. Yet the primitive nature myths 
and animal tales, and the narratives that have 
grown out of the earliest forms of religion, do inter- 
est those who hear them, because they have come 
from those who believed the forces of nature to be 
monstrous, living, purposeful, struggling things. 

Very few modern writers have succeeded in per- 
sonifying the moon and stars with sufficient con- 
viction that their tales have gripped the young 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 61 


folk to whom they were told. But the Greek 
stories of Apollo, Phaeton, Orion, or the Pleiades 
are received with enthusiasm if recounted to those 
in the age period for which they have an appeal. 
These ancient myths were believed by the people 
who gave them to the world. The glowing heavenly 
bodies were striving, living creatures to them, and 
even very young children sense the difference be- 
tween the ancient narratives that are true in spirit 
and “nature-fakir” tales of later origin. The former 
were true to those who first told them. They ring 
with sincerity even to-day. Consequently, they 
have lived and influenced throughout the ages. 
The modern narrative in which nature is personi- 
fied has seldom endured for a decade. 

All the great modern stories abound in conflict.— 
The racial tales abound in conflict. Early man 
was filled with wonder concerning the effect upon 
his own life or that of some of his fellows, of a force 
he feared or against which he struggled. The 
great modern narratives abound in conflict because 
conflict is still the essence of life. The days of man 
even now are made up of struggle for success and 
happiness, of perpetual effort to realize deep desires. 
The authors of these stories understood that tales 
that deserve the name must reflect real life. What- 
every portrays life truthfully must be a fabric of 
conflict and desire. 

Primitive man did not dissect and analyze. His 
tales are rich in dramatic interest because they are 
slices out of life, which to him was an unending 
span of suspense. He introduced conflict into , 
them, not for effect, but spontaneously. Just as 
he called for help to the sun or for deliverance from 


62 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


the ravages of a flood or tempest, so he put struggle, 
the only thing he knew, into his tales. 

It is because of the spontaneity of these racial 
tales that they have lived on through the centuries. 
The work of man who writes for effect or for mate- 
rial gain seldom outlasts a few seasons. Present- 
day authors whose creations really grip are those 
who are portraying life truthfully and with sincerity 
rather than with merely studied artistry; who 
write because they have a message that cannot be 
withheld. And the age-old appeal of truth and 
sincerity brings to their work a success and longevity 
that often far exceeds their expectations. Their 
tales are replete with the conflict that engenders 
suspense. They are full of human interest. 
Blasco Ibafiez, the famous Spanish novelist, already 
referred to, said in a recent interview: “Literature 
to-day is as it was in the days of the ancients. The 
same elements comprise it. The same formulas 
hold. The only difference is that it reflects dif- 
ferent conditions, a different philosophy and point 
of view.” 

Dramatic situations not mecessarily those of 
physical activity.—Tales that abound in conflict 
are not necessarily those of physical achievement. 
The account of the struggle of a man with himself 
in an effort to overcome a vice or moral failing may 
be as replete with interest to those who read and 
hear as that of him who conquers by muscular 
strength. One of the most moving narratives in 
the Bible is that of Christ’s agony in the garden, as 
related in the twenty-second chapter of Luke. No 
physical activity marks the struggle. Among the 
great secular tales of the world are many of this 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 63 


same type, in which a spiritual struggle, rather than 
a physical one, is involved. But, in the main, such 
narratives as these are not of interest to boys and 
girls below the age of twelve or fourteen. There 
are some tales in which the conflict is solely of the 
spirit and to which small children respond whole- 
heartedly, but that is because, like primitive man, 
the little child is apt to think of hatred, deceit, and 
the various vices as monsters. But to the boy or 
girl who wants to hear about heroes who do things, 
the story of men struggling with themselves is not 
interesting. The lad of ten or twelve does not 
think of vices as living creatures. He wants physical 
activity. It is the older, adolescent youth who is 
gripped by accounts of a fight to be victorious over 
haterd or selfishness. 


THE PARTS OF THE STORY 


Beginning the story.—Every properly constructed 
story is composed of four distinct parts: (1) the 
beginning, (2) the body, (3) the climax, and (4) the 
conclusion. The beginning of a story, to those 
who hear it, is like the first impression of a person 
upon the strangers he meets. If the initial meeting 
leaves the feeling that he is a likable and well- 
meaning individual, there is a desire to see more of 
him. If, on the contrary, he seems colorless or 
disagreeable the average man or woman will not 
strive to know him better. 

It is the same with a story. If interest is aroused 
by the opening sentences, those who hear will 
listen eagerly in order to find out what comes next. 

Conflict must appear in the beginning.—In every 
well-constructed story, especially if it is a story to 


64 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


be told, conflict appears at the very beginning, 
sometimes in the first sentence, always in the first 
two or three paragraphs. This means that the 
characters are introduced the minute the curtain 
is drawn back revealing the scene. The aborigine 
in the uplands of Asia did this. So does the skillful 
writer of the twentieth century, and so has every 
successful creator of stories down the ages. 

Usually, in the first two or three paragraphs the 
atmosphere of the tale is created. The setting 
of the story is made clear. But this must be done 
deftly and skillfully. Beyond a sentence or two 
there must not be a description of time or place 
in which no characters are present. 

Some novelists, like Scott, have devoted pages 
to a description of time and place before the char- 
acters get into action. But when that which is 
nonessential to the unraveling of the plot has been 
cut away, even in Scott we find beginnings as they 
were in the ancient nature myth. The characters 
come upon the stage and get into action at once, 
and they continue to be in action until the curtain 
goes down on the scene. 

The beginning paragraph of a story that is told 
may also give the concept of the tale. It may make 
clear to the hearer what issues are involved. But 
if the concept is given in the beginning, it must be 
given with skill. It should be a part of the char- 
acterization, not an abstract statement. Interest 
is not keenly aroused when one hears, “‘The story 
IT am going to tell you is about a boy who lost faith 
in his best friend just because he did not under- 
stand something that happened.’ But interest 
is instantly focused on the words of the narrator 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 65 


who says, ‘Until the day of the Carlton-Scoville 
meet, Frank Norton believed Ned Peters was the 
most loyal friend a boy could have. Then Ned 
fell down so completely in his eyes that, as the 
fellows got into their track suits, he felt very sure 
he never could trust him again.” 

Concept, like atmosphere and time, must be 
introduced along with the characters if interest is 
to be aroused in the beginning of the story. The 
hearer must immediately see characters in action, or 
he will not be keenly alert as to what is about to 
happen. 

Necessity of getting characters into action.—The 
necessity of getting the characters into action the 
minute the story opens cannot be emphasized too 
strongly. The printed narrative, the messages 
of which are carried to the mind through the medium 
of the eye, may have one page, even several para- 
graphs or pages, devoted to a description of char- 
acters or locality, and yet be interesting and de- 
lightful to the reader. There are many great stories 
the charm and strength of which lie almost entirely 
in character drawing and portrayal of setting. They 
are tales in which suspense is aroused by the con- 
flicting characteristics of the person who moves, 
or persons who move, through them. But they are 
not narratives to be told. The spoken tale must 
abound in action, and that action must begin with 
the beginning of the story. 

The beginning in racial tales.—The beginning 
of an ancient folk-tale from Picardy illustrates 
what is meant by saying conflict must be introduced 
with the opening of the story. 

““A very long time ago Crepin and the devil com- 


66 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION | 


bined their savings and bought a large piece of land. 
The devil, for his part of the proceeds the first year, 
demanded everything that came from the soil. 
Crepin might have everything beside that. 

“Crepin pretended to be satisfied with this one- 
sided bargain, but made up his mind to play a trick 
on the devil.” 

Likewise in the following old narrative of Lor- 


. Yaine: 


‘A king had three sons, and, becoming old, he 
wished to give his sovereign power to one of them 
and live his declining years in peace. So he called 
them to him and said: ‘I am broken with age and 
can no longer be burdened with affairs of state. 
But I love the three of you equally, and cannot 
choose one above the others to wear the crown. 
So I shall impose a task upon each of you. Which- 
ever succeeds first in bringing to me the largest 
and smallest needles in the world shall become 
lord of my palace and kingdom.’ ” 

An old version of the legend of the Flying Dutch- 
man begins like this: 

“Once upon a time a Dutch ship set sail from 
the East Indies to return to Holland. The Dutch 
had rich lands in the East Indies and many a poor 
lad went out from his home before the mast and 
landed in Java, where he settled himself and grew 
rich. 

“Such an one was a certain Deidrich, who had no 
father or mother living, and was left to shift for 
himself. When he came to Java he was bound out 
to a rich planter; but he worked so hard and so 
faithfully that it was not long before he was free 
and his own master. Little by little he saved his 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING | 67 


money, and as he was very careful, it was not many 
years before he was very rich indeed.” 

The openings of these stories are similar to those 
of thousands of racial tales that have come down 
from the remote days of antiquity, every one of 
which, from the standpoint of structure, is a 
perfect narrative for telling. There is no detailed 
description in them. In each one action begins in 
the first paragraph, or there is a suggestion of the 
conflict that marks that tale. An idea is given of 
the thing that is to be overcome, and consequently 
interest is aroused at once. 

The beginnings of the notable modern stories 
are in structure like those of the old tales. In 
The Pony Engine and the Pacific Express William 
Dean Howells gives an idea of time, characters, 
and concept: ‘“‘Christmas Eve, after the children 
had hung up their stockings and got all ready for 
St. Nic, they climbed up on papa’s neck to kiss him 
good night, and when they both got their arms 
around his neck, they said they were not going to 
bed till he told them a Christmas.” 

Louise E. Chollet begins the ever-popular story 
of Blunder thus: 

“Blunder was going to the Wishing-Gate to wish 
for a pair of Shetland Ponies and a little coach like 
Tom Thumb’s.” 

In Arthur Ransome’s delightful book entitled 
Old Peter’s Russian Tales, an idea of setting and 
hero is given in the opening paragraph: 

“Somewhere in the forest of great trees—a forest 
so big that the forests of England are little woods 
beside it—is the hut where old Peter lives.” - 

On through a wide range of both ancient and 


68 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


modern tales we might go and find in all of them 
these same characteristics: Action begins with the 
opening paragraph, or characters are introduced in 
such a way as to suggest the action that is to follow. 
Time, place, atmosphere, and concept are introduced 
along with the characters. 

Bible tales examples of perfect beginnings.— 
The Bible stories are examples of tales with perfect 
beginnings, because in them interest is aroused by 
the first sentences. 

In the opening chapter of Genesis the character 
is God, and in the first sentence action begins— 
something is done: 

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the 
earth. And the earth was without form and void, 
and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” There 
was something to overcome, something to improve 
and make better. 

In the call of Abram, in the twelfth chapter of 
Genesis, we find: “Now the Lord had said unto 
Abram, Get thee out of thy country and from thy 
father’s house, unto a land which I will show thee.” 

What do we find? A picture of a man about 
to depart from a land dear to him. Something is 
about to happen. The child knows it as he hears 
that opening sentence, and is eager for the unfolding 
of the plot. He wants to see whether or not Abram 
obeys, and what comes of his action. 

Through countless chapters of the Old Testament 
we might go and find always beginnings that intro- 
duce characters and awaken interest with their 
suggestion of something about to happen. It is 
the same with the New Testament. Nowhere in 
literature do we find such flawless stories from the 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 69 


standpoint of structure as those of the Gospels, 
the Epistles, and the Acts of the Apostles: 

“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of 
Judza in the days of Herod the King, there came . 
wise men from the east to Jerusalem.” 

“Seeing the multitude, he went up into a 
mountain, and when he was set his disciples came 
unto him.” 

‘“‘And it came to pass in those days that there 
went out a decree from Cesar Augustus that all the 
world should be taxed. 

“And all went to be taxed, every one to his own 
city. 

‘And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the 
city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, 
which is called Bethlehem.”’ 

Upon hearing these beginnings interest is aroused 
as to what will happen next, and the reader or 
hearer is not disappointed. Something does happen, 
right through the body of the story, until suspense 
reaches its apex in the climax. Action is sustained 
from the opening to the close of the tale. When the 
action is completed the story ends dramatically and 
satisfactorily to the hearer, without an unnecessary 
word. 

The dramatic splendor of the Bible stories is what 
makes them so appealing to boys and girls. The 
recital of happenings of the long ago in the 
unaffected, forceful style of the Hebrew narrators 
gives them an interest that holds as keenly now as 
when they were first heard by the primitive Ori- 
ental folk, a people who were men in stature but 
children in thought, as are all primitive peoples. 
They mean as much to children to-day as they 


70 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


meant to the grown-up children of Israel. Some- 
thing of the child nature survives in every human 
being, no matter how old. Therefore these ancient 
narratives rich in suspense never become antiquated. 
To adults as well as to children they are and always 
will be incomparably interesting. Even if they had 
no religious value they would stand alone as flaw- 
lessly constructed tales. 

There is no unvarying rule or formula for begin- 
ning the oral story other than the one already 
given. The beginning may be narrative or dialogue 
in style. Each has been and can be used with 
success. But the novice in the field of story-telling 
will find narrative easier to handle. Dialogue, as 
one ushers in the characters, is somewhat difficult. 
After being fairly well launched, the tale may 
abound in conversation, but for the first two or 
three paragraphs, unless one is very expert, it is 
well to keep away from it. 

The body, climax, and conclusion of the story.— 
From the beginning the action continues on through 
what is known as the body of the story. Here one 
incident follows another in rapid succession. One 
act or happening contributes to or causes that which 
succeeds it. For this reason the interest of those 
who hear or read is constantly increasing. Steadily 
and rapidly suspense grows. There is eagerness 
to know the outcome or fate of the characters, 
until that eagerness reaches its apex or highest 
pitch in the point we know as the climax. Then 
the mystery is explained or the solution given, and 
directly the curtain goes down on the scene. 

The climax of the story, like the beginning and 
body, must contain no extraneous matter. In the 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 71 


climax the great point of the narrative is revealed. 
Interest reaches its pinnacle as this point is revealed. 
As soon as the point is made clear, interest begins 
to decline. 

After the climax has been reached, the end follows 
speedily in the conclusion. The conclusion also 
must contain nothing that is not necessary. It 
must not detract from or spoil what has gone be- 
fore. Never must it moralize or put into words 
what the narrator thinks about any of the characters 
or their actions. To do that is to create an anti- 
climax. The conclusion pleasingly finishes the story, 
leaving what has preceded to work out its own 
interpretation and moral in the minds of those who 
have heard. The conclusion ushers the characters 
off the stage in a way that satisfies the mind. 

The following examples show the perfection of 
the body, climax, and conclusion structure of Bible 
stories: 

In the first chapter of Genesis, light envelops 
the universe, ‘‘a firmament in the midst of the water” 
is created, the seas are divided from the land; grass, 
herbs, and trees appear. The sun, moon, and stars 
are set in the sky, and creatures of land and water 
are made. Then comes the climax, the place 
where interest runs highest. Man is created in the 
image of God and given dominion over the beasts. 

Then, simply and dramatically, without in any 
way depreciating what has gone before, the story 
is finished in a satisfactory manner. 

“And God saw everything that he had made, 
and behold, it was very good. And the evening 
and the morning were the sixth day. 

“And on the seventh day God ended. his work 


72 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


which he had made; and he rested on the seventh 
day from all the work which he had made. 

“And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified 
it; because that in it he had rested from his work 
which God created and made.” 

There is no limit to the number of scenes or 
pictures that comprise a story, so long as each is 
necessary to the unfolding of the plot. Some tales 
consist of less than half a dozen situations, while 
some have fifteen, twenty, and even more. But 
each must contribute something to the one that suc- 
ceeds tt. Otherwise it has no purpose in the story 
and should be cut away. 

Study of many stories necessary.—The student 
who aspires to become a _ successful story-teller 
should study many narratives with a view to care- 
fully observing beginnings, body, climax, and ending, 
using for this purpose both Bible and secular tales. 
In the secular field he will do well to confine his 
observation largely to fairy tales, myths, and legends 
that have come down the ages, the racial stories 
that grew out of the religion and life of primitive 
man, and that, like the Bible tales, are untouched 
by artificiality. It will be well also to read analyti- 
cally some of the works of the great modern mas- 
ters, Hugo, Maupassant, Daudet, Turgenieff, René 
Bazin, Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne and men of equal 
standing in the world of literature, to see how 
unvaryingly they have kept to the principles em- 
bodied in the racial tales. ‘There are many excel- 
lent contemporary stories, but if the student scans 
the best of those mentioned above he will very 
likely have as much work on this one theme as time 
will allow. Since there cannot be a study of all well- 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 73 


constructed narratives, it is advisable to give one’s 
attention to those that have stood the test of time. 

Summary.—A story, considered from the stand- 
point of structure, consists of four parts. The 
beginning must never be a rambling introduction. 
Characters must be ushered in with the opening 
sentences and action start at once; there must be a 
suggestion that something is going to happen. 

Once the action starts it must move swiftly and 
without a break through the body of the tale toward 
the climax, with all the time suspense being main- 
tained, until it reaches its highest point in the 
climax. 

The climax reached, the story should be brought 
to a close without delay, but not abruptly. There 
should be just enough words to get the characters 
off the stage in a manner that seems logical and 
otherwise satisfying to the hearer. 


THOUGHT QUESTIONS 


. In what respect are all great stories alike? 

. What is meant by dramatic interest in a story? 

3. Are dramatic situations necessarily those of 
physical activity? 

4. Where must conflict enter into a story? 

. What should the opening paragraphs of a story 
contain? Mention a Bible story that is an illus- 
tration of a model beginning. 

6. What is meant by the body of a story? What 
is meant by unnecessary incidents in a story? 
Why do unnecessary incidents spoil a good story? 

7. Of what does the climax of a story consist? 

The conclusion? Give examples of model climaxes 

and conclusions in Bible stories. 


DSO & 


on 


74 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION ~ 


CHAPTER IV 
THE STORY INTERESTS OF CHILDREN 


Ir story-telling is to be a power in building Chris- 
tian character, the material used must be suited to 
the age and understanding of those to whom it is 
given. A perfectly constructed tale may be exqul- 
sitely told, yet make no appeal to those who hear 
it because it is too old or too young for them. The 
boy in the late period of adolescence will not thrill 
at a recital of happenings among brownies and 
gnomes, nor will the lad who craves tales of physical 
adventure be entertained by an account of a man’s 
heroic struggle to overcome a weakness or defect 
of character. The one has grown beyond interest 
in brownies and gnomes. The other has not yet 
come into a comprehension of the mighty drama 
of an individual in conflict with his own spirit. 
Each individual responds only to those stories that 
reflect his world or his desires, or that reflect an 
environment different from his own, about which 
he feels curiosity. 


~ 


THe INTERESTS OF YOUNG CHILDREN 


The world of the small child lies within narrow 
boundaries. It is made up of persons and objects 
he can see, hear, and touch, that are or have been 
part of his experience. The account of a potentate 
in the Congo who wears rings in his ears and nose 
and bedecks himself with feathers will not satisfy 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 75 


his longings, because African chiefs are outside the 
range of his experience. His imagination is not 
yet unfolded to the point that it carries him among 
personalities and conditions that are grotesque 
and strange. He is a realist, this small person of 
from three to six, and is concerned only with his 
immediate world. Members of his family, rela- 
tives, neighbors, other children, pets—creatures he 
can see and hear, or that he has seen and heard— 
all interest him, because they are part of his environ- 
ment. 

Stories for little children must deal with the 
familiar.—The mother who takes care of him 
whether he is sick or well, and the father who brings 
home money that buys his food and provides for 
his material wants, fill a large part of his world. 
Almost to a like degree the fathers and mothers of 
other little boys and girls interest him, because 
they are like his own parents. He is concerned 
about his sisters and brothers for the same reason 
that he is concerned about his father and mother. 
They are part of his life. They are like him in many 
ways. His interest runs high regarding other 
children because he looks upon them as kindred 
beings. He wonders about the things they do— 
how fast they can run, what skill they have in 
manipulating toys, and what they like to eat. He 
asks countless questions about them, questions that 
have grown out of his own difficulties, desires, and 
experiences. He wonders if other small people 
have interests, annoyances and satisfactions as he 
has. Any one who observes little children will 
find them asking such questions as these of other 
children: ‘‘What is your name? Where~-do you 


76 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


live? What do you like to play? Have you a 
dog or a kitty? Can you run fast?” 

Countless other interrogations are plied whenever 
tiny tots meet. Each one grows out of a desire 
or an experience. 

A tale may be ideal for little children in general, 
perfect in age suitability, and a prime favorite in 
half a dozen lands, yet make no appeal to certain 
individual children or groups of children, because it 
abounds in characters and incidents remote from 
their experience. The child of the city slums, who 
never has seen barnyard animals, green fields, and 
running brooks, will not delight in a tale of country 
life, unless through creatures already known, or 
through some familiar medium he can see pictures 
of horses, cows, and sheep, streams and _ fields. 
Likewise, little people in a sequestered village will 
have no satisfaction in a tale portraying the expe- 
riences of children in a subway, or among the sky- 
scrapers of Manhattan. They will enjoy such 
stories if through making a comparison between the 
railroads and trains they know, or the houses with 
which they are familiar, the narrator enables them 
to visualize subways and forty-story buildings. 
In the same way, contrasting dogs and cats with 
horses, cows, and sheep, or the plant in the-school- 
room window with trees of the forest, will enable 
the city child who never has been beyond his crowded 
tenement quarter to understand and respond to a 
story of country life. The gap between the familiar 
and the unfamiliar must be bridged before pleasure 
or benefit can come to a child through a story. 

Conversation of children evidences their story 
interests.—The surest way in which the narrator 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 77 


can obtain a knowledge of the story interests of early 
childhood is to listen to the conversation of little 
children. To follow with an analytical mind the 
spontaneous remarks of boys and girls of any age 
will give an idea of the kind of stories to which they 
will respond, for the tales that are keenly enjoyed 
must reflect life that can be understood. It is 
simpler by studying conversations to get at the 
story interests of little children than of older ones, 
because small folk are more communicative than are 
those who are further on the way toward adult life. 
But even the adolescent youth, if his confidence Is 
gained or his natural conversation overheard, will 
reveal, by his spontaneous remarks, tastes that 
indicate his story interests. 

A science of story interests.—Because psychol- 
ogists for many years have carefully observed chil- 
dren of all ages and noted their reaction to stories, 
we have come to have what may be called a science 
of story interests, and a set of rules that are a sure 
guide in choosing material. The one to be observed 
by the teller of tales to children of from three to 
six is, use stories of which the characters are chil- 
dren, animals, parents, and personages like those 
that are part of the child’s own life; tales that deal with 
the familiar. 

Stories in which there is a great deal of repe- 
tition and that contain jingles are amazingly popular 
during this early age of childhood. ‘The response 
of little people to Mother Goose and kindred nursery 
rimes is proof of this statement. In fact, so keen 
is the enjoyment of tales told in rime or jingle that 
the years between three and six are often called the 
rhythmic period of childhood. 


78 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


An eminent student of child psychology’ declares 
that although the world at large is uncertain as to 
who Mother Goose was, the educational world 
knows she was a pedagogical genius. She under- 
stood the appeal of rhythm and alliteration for little 
children, and put her bits of narrative into a form 
that is received by them with delight. Whoever 
tells stories to tiny tots should bear in mind the 
appeal of Mother Goose, and introduce her prin- 
ciples as much as possible. even though he may not 
confine himself to that material. 

Mother Goose discoursed about only those 
creatures and objects that are part of the little 
child’s life. Mirth-provoking women and men, 
fat, good-natured old men, cross children and merry 
children, and amazingly wise animals fill her pages. 
They gambol and frolic, weep and rejoice, and 
have the kind of adventures that bring chuckles of 
happiness from the babes who hear about them. 
The story-teller who works with very small folks 
is certain of success if she keeps close to the methods 
of Mother Goose. 

Jingle, rhythm, alliteration and rime.—Jingle and 
alliteration should be introduced into tales whenever 
possible, both for emphasis and for the purpose of 
feeding the love of sonorous sound that is very strong 
during the first five or six years of life. The mother 
or teacher who does not have enough literary ability 
to introduce into her work jingles that fit the mate- 
rial is heavily handicapped. Nevertheless she does 
not need to be discouraged. She can feed the love 
of rhythm that runs as high as that of rime, by 





1 Centurion, January, 1924. 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 79 


repeating phrases and sentences to form stanzas, 
in the following manner: 


And so the birdie flew away, 

The birdie flew and flew and flew; 
The little birdie flew away 

Because God said cold days were near. 


In the sweet-scented garden of Eden, . 
The beautiful garden of Eden, 

The pleasant green garden of Eden, 
Long ago there lived Adam and Eve. 


Such bits as these, about a migrating bird, the 
paradise of Genesis, the sheep over which David 
watched, or the soft-eyed Baby Samson who became 
the man of strength, if introduced into a story, will 
greatly intensify the child’s pleasure in the tale. 

Repetition of conversation and descriptive phrase. 
—Repetition of conversation, or of descriptive 
phrase is also pleasing to little children. For 
instance, in giving the tale of a lark, very often, in 
speaking of the songster say, “And the wee little 
bird with the shiny, brown wings.’? Likewise, the 
account of a boy who was told to come straight home 
from the grocery when sent upon an errand, can 
be made more dramatic to the child, and the lesson 
one wishes to leave with him will be more deeply 
impressed, if one says, ‘“‘His mother said, ‘Come 
home just as fast as your bare feet can run, for we’re 
going to have pudding for tea.’’”’ ‘Then, in recount- 
ing the incident where another boy tries to get him 
to come into his yard and spin tops, repeat, ‘‘But he 
remembered what his mother had said, ‘Come home 
just as fast as your bare feet can run, for we’re 
going to have pudding for tea.’’’ Make it a rule, 


80 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


when a message or principle is to be left with a 
little child, to emphasize that message or principle 
whenever possible by repetition and rhythm, even 
though rime may be out of the question. 

Child’s interest in parents simplifies acquainting 
him with God.—The fact that the little child is 
keenly interested in his parents, and in the parents 
of other children, greatly simplifies the work of the 
story-teller who seeks to arouse God-consciousness 
and awaken religious feeling. Through God, the 
loving Father, innumerable wonders are wrought. 
The world is his domain. Over it he presides as 
the earthly parent presides over his household, 
being mindful of those in his keeping, and doing 
for each and every one of them the thing that is best. 

The parallel of the earthly and heavenly Father 
is very easy to establish with the little child because 
of his knowledge and belief in his own father. It 
is a comforting thought to him, in his awe of nature’s 
forces, to learn that they move according to God’s 
direction, and that within each one of them he 
speaks. Nothing else so gives such a sense of 
kinship with nature as does the feeling that the sun, 
moon, stars, light, darkness, thunder, lightning, and 
all else that is tinged with mystery are controlled 
by God, just as all creatures upon the earth are 
controlled by him. 

The idea of Christ the Good Shepherd appealing 
to small child.—The idea of Christ the Good Shep- 
herd is very lovely to the small child. He responds 
sympathetically to pictures and stories of shepherds 
whose business in life is to take care of the sheep. 
If he lives in a region where flocks move with the 
changing seasons in search of pasture, the sight of 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 81 


the sturdy men and dogs who tend them as they 
journey from lowland to hill country is one of keen 
interest to him. Having seen these taciturn, and 
usually foreign-tongued guardians, and heard them 
call to their charges, he understands the solicitude 
of shepherds for helpless animals. 

If he is not in a sheep country, he will come 
quickly into an understanding of this solicitude if 
shown pictures of herders with their flocks. Rosa 
Bonheur’s truthful and beautiful portrayal of a 
shepherd of the Pyrenees is splendid for this pur- 
pose. With it should be told the story of the 
lonely man who dwells in discomfort far from his 
kindred in the valley, because it is his business to 
care for helpless animals. 

The account of the shepherds of Behtlehem who 
stayed abroad on the hills throughout the cold 
winter nights because to go to their home village 
would be to leave the dumb creatures to the mercy 
of the wolves, is a beautiful illustration of a guar- 
dian’s care, and one that is loved by little children, 
if it is given picturesquely, with skill and sincerity. 

God’s care brought to the child through children 
of the Bible.—The children of the Bible are another 
medium through which God’s care for his little ones 
can be brought home to the child. The tale of 
Baby Moses in the rushes, sheltered only by a 
basket of osier, yet unharmed by either river current 
or prowling beast until Pharaoh’s daughter came 
down to bathe and took him to the palace, is a 
charming, appealing narrative for young children. 

Appealing too are the stories of the birth. of 
Isaac, of little Samuel, of young Joseph, who went 
to visit his brethren and was sold into Egypt. The 


82 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


tales of David, the shepherd boy, who became a 
king, of Samson, whose birth was the fulfillment 
of his parent’s great desire, and of Ishmael, the 
child of Hagar, who languished with his mother 
in the wilderness, are among the most satisfying 
stories for little children to be found anywhere. 

Much interest is aroused among small folk of from 
three to six by the story of Joash, the child sover- 
eign of Judah, as told in 2 Kings 11, 12 and 13. 
The tale of little Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 4, 9), 
the crippled son of Jonathan, who was loved and 
befriended by King David, is another to which they 
respond with keen sympathy. Then there is the 
account of the baby Solomon, who grew to be a 
sumptuous ruler, and a man so wise that he could 
understand the language of all creatures. It is 
such Old Testament narratives as these, narratives 
that deal with children that are part of the young 
child’s spiritual heritage. 

The great animal story of the old Testament, 
the tale of Noah and the ark,'is ideal for these small 
people. They listen eagerly to the account of God’s 
care of the good Noah, to whom he gave warning 
of the flood, of the building of the ark that was 
to house him and his family throughout the weeks 
of deluge, and then of the gathering in of creatures 
of forest and field. The narrative of Noah and the 
deluge can well extend through several story periods, 
especially if as part of it, is given something about 
the various animals, and one or two of the legends 
clustering around them. Children of from three 
to six are much interested in hearing the old folk- 
tale of the dog who faithfully helped Noah to drive 
the many creatures into the shelter of the ark. 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 83 


Then, when he attempted to get a place for himself, 
he found it so crowded that he had to stand half 
way in and half way out. Throughout forty days 
and nights the rain descended on his nose, at the 
end of which time it was so well-nigh frozen it never 
got warm again. Ever since that time dogs have 
had cold noses. 

In the New Testament there is the crowningly 
beautiful tale of the infant Jesus, set in the back- 
ground of a stable, with kneeling shepherds paying 
homage to the new-born Lord. The coming of the 
Magi, kings in sumptuous attire, riding on camels 
and bearing gifts from the farthest reaches of the 
desert, always charms and leaves a deep impression. 

Sacred legends help in the child’s religious 
training.—To supplement the story of the Christ- 
child there is a lovely Syrian legend of a baby camel 
that trotted beside its mother all the long miles 
across the waste, bleating in distress sometimes, 
and becoming so weary that the Magi had to stop 
and give its wobbly little legs a chance to rest. The 
children of Herod fed and decked it when the 
train stopped in Jerusalem. Finally, when the 
procession reached Bethlehem, it was left with the 
other animals while the three kings went to the 
manger. 

But the wee camel, sensing that a glory was 
within that stable, succeeded in getting past the 
closed gate, beside which it had waited with its 
mother. It crept to the manger, and like the Magi, 
knelt in homage before the Child. The Child, 
seeing the bleating, adoring bit before him, raised 
a tiny hand as if in blessing. Then that baby 
camel went forth from the stable, never to-be cross 


84 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


and vicious, like other camels, but to be happy and 
live forever. 

To this day this revered legend is told around the 
firesides of Syria as part of the Nativity celebration. 
On Christmas Eve the little folks put dishes of 
pomegranate jelly and sweetened water outside 
their doors for the Baby Camel that walked to 
Jesus, that goes round the world each year on the 
Holy Night, leaving gifts for children, and even for 
adults who are sick and needy. 

The story of the flight into Egypt is a charming 
one for young children, who are always greatly 
relived to find that Mary, Joseph, and the Babe 
get safely beyond the wrath of Herod. 

This incident in the life of the Master can also 
be illuminated for folk of kindergarten and primary 
years by giving them some of the legends of the 
East. One of the most appealing of these is a tale 
that tells how, as the three hurried beyond reach 
of the murderous purpose of the ruler, they sought 
shelter one night at a gypsy camp. The chief let 
them stay by the fire, for although he knew who 
they were, and that the vengeance of Herod would 
fall upon him if he were discovered giving them 
protection, it was against the code of the wan- 
derers to turn away anyone who was overcome by 
hunger, cold, or darkness. 3 

The long, cold night wore on, and as hours passed 
the fire began to die out. The gypsies were asleep, 
and the strangers hesitated to rekindle it. The 
Child shivered with cold and the mother drew him 
close, but even so, she could not warm him. 

High in a leafless tree above them was a small 
brown bird. It saw the shivering Babe and the 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 85 


half-dead embers, and flew down and fanned them 
with its wings. Into the very ashes it crept, spread- 
ing its tiny pinions and fanning incessantly. 

Suddenly the embers flamed again, for wind 
from the moving wings of the robin revived some 
sparks. The fire burned merrily, as it had burned 
before, warming the circle where the gypsies slept, 
the wanderers, and the Child. But it blazed up 
so quickly that the breast of the bird in the ashes 
was sadly burned. Then God, because of the act 
of love and sacrifice of the small bunch of feathers, 
took the pain away. He declared that the scorched 
breast should be a mark of honor, so that evermore 
the world might know what one robin had done 
for a shivering Babe. That is why the gypsy 
mothers say robins have red breasts to this very day. 

Another legend dealing with the flight into Egypt 
is that of a palm in an oasis in the center of the 
desert. It was an exceedingly tall tree, and proud 
as it was tall, because it had been planted by the 
Queen of Sheba, who, in the very long ago, had 
ridden to that oasis with King Solomon the Wise. 
She was returning to her own country after her 
visit to Jerusalem, and the sovereign and his train 
traveled part of the way with her. As they rested 
by a spring for refreshment from the long journey 
the queen said, “‘Here will I-plant a date seed in 
memory of this hour, from which shall grow a palm 
that will live until a king greater than Solomon 
shall arise in Judea.” 

She dropped the seed into the ground, and exactly 
as she had said, from it grew a palm such as that 
land never had seen before. Through many, many 
years it flourished, until now it was centuries old, 


86 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


yet still green and thrifty, like a fine young tree. 

One day this haughty palm was approached by 
three human beings, a man, a woman, and a Child. 
The sun beat fiercely down upon them, and they 
were suffering from hunger and thirst. But never 
a sign of spring or green blade did they see. The 
man and woman dropped on the sand in misery, 
scanning the yellow stretches beyond with despair- 
ing eyes. 

Suddenly, as they peered through the distance, 
they heard a rustle like that of wind in willows. 
Looking up, the woman saw the palm far beyond 
them, and dangling from its crown were pulpy 
clusters of dates. For a moment delight supplanted 
despair. The juicy balls would save them! She 
roused her husband. ‘‘See,” she exclaimed, “dates 
that are pulpy and sweet!” 

With hope revived they staggered close to the 
tree. But the fruit hung so high above that it 
was hopelessly out of reach. Faint from thirst, 
hunger, and much traveling as the man was, he 
could not climb the sheer shaft to where the bright 
clusters were. Despair possessed them again, but 
it was not so with the Child. He went close and 
spoke in a sweet, baby voice, ‘‘Palm, bend thee!” 

Immediately a shiver went through the desert 
king. The tall, brush-like top lowered until it 
swept the ground. 

Cluster after cluster of the pulpy fruit the child 
plucked. It fed and refreshed him. It fed and 
refreshed his parents too. When they all had 
eaten until satisfied, the little fellow spoke again, 
saying, ‘‘Palm, raise thee!” 

The tree obeyed and the three passed on. 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 87 


Next day, when travelers came that way by 
caravan, the leaves of the palm were seared and 
withered, for it had fulfilled its mission. A King 
greater than Solomon had risen in Judza, and 
him it had sustained. 

The story of the boy Jesus among the elders in 
the Temple is a lovely one for children of kinder- 
garten and early primary years. There 1s also 
the beautiful narrative of Christ blessing the chil- 
dren, giving to them the time His disciples thought 
too precious to be devoted to small, insignificant 
folk. This is especially valuable in arousing in the 
little child that feeling of confidence and trust we 
desire him to have. To the wee tot, who often 
feels awed and helpless in the vast world that sur- 
rounds him, there is something highly comforting 
in the thought that the Master said, “Suffer little 
children to come unto me, and forbid them not.” 


THE INTERESTS OF OLDER CHILDREN 


When the child comes to the age of six or seven 
his range of vision widens. He looks beyond his 
own fireside and the firesides of his neighbors, and 
to wonder about the world that stretches away out 
yonder and ever so far away. What kind of crea- 
tures inhabit it? What do they think, say, and do? 
Not being able to behold them in the flesh, he 
builds in his own mind images that fit his idea of 
them. Continually he is wondering, How does it 
happen that there are stars and a moon in the sky 
by night and a great yellow sun by day? Some- 
times out of this wondering he evolves strange, 
grotesque theories. His imagination is awakened, 


88 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


and once awakened it knows no bounds. He now 
dwells in a realm of wonder peopled by giants, 
heroes, Indians, and other amazing characters. 

The fairy-tale period of childhood.—This is the 
period of childhood when, like the winged horse 
Pegasus, imagination is a thing no man can con- 
trol. Tales that satisfy now must be tales that 
feed the sense of wonder. During these years, 
which, broadly speaking, are from five or six to nine 
or ten, the craving is for narratives that abound in 
supernatural elements, those in which animals are 
endowed with human intelligence and attributes, 
and in which human beings perform feats that are 
impossible of achievement to mortals unaided, 
tales in which the happenings are such that only 
through the help of higher powers can they be 
brought about. 

Numerous narratives in the Bible Satisfy the 
demand for the supernatural.—The Bible has 
humerous narratives that satisfy the demand for 
the supernatural. The account of the serpent in 
Eden, of Eve swayed by its words and disobeying 
the command of God that had been spoken to 
Adam, of the two partaking of the fruit and hiding 
from the presence of the Lord when they heard his 
voice sounding among the trees, and then of being 
driven out of that beautiful domain into a place of 
thorns and thistles, is a fine example of a tale that 
feeds the child’s craving for the supernatural. While 
satisfying that craving it establishes a sense of the 
power of God and the just punishment that came of 
disobedience. 

The story of the creation, as told in the first 
chapter of Genesis, is a marvelous one for children 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 89 


of six and seven. Another wonder story from 
Genesis that satisfies to the uttermost is that of 
the visit of the angels and Lot’s experience at the 
gate of Sodom. The building of the Tower of 
Babel and the confusion of tongues is still another. 

The tale of Jonah, who fled from the presence of 
God and was swallowed out of the waters by a 
great fish, feeds the flight of fancy that is so well- 
nigh beyond control during these imaginative 
years. Incidents of the Exodus that satisfy this 
same desire are the account of Moses and the 
burning bush, the pillar of cloud and fire that 
guided the Israelites, the smiting of the rock when 
the wanderers were clamoring for water, the sweet- 
ening of the waters of Marah, manna rained from 
heaven, and the Red Sea waves rolling back to 
form a pathway for the oppressed and pursued 
Hebrews, but uniting again to destroy Pharaoh’s 
destroying hosts. These and kindred narratives of 
the Old Testament, in which the workings of God 
are revealed in a spectacular and marvelous way, 
are not only enjoyed but needed by the child in this 
imaginative period. If his religious sense and 
belief in the omnipotence of God are to be established 
as we wish them to be, he must have a vivid sense 
of the sublime. 

Failure to give wonder tales of the Bible while 
the child craves them often is followed by an irrev- 
erent or purely naturalistic attitude later on.—Skep- 
ticism and an attitude of levity toward the Bible 
often result when the wonder stories of the Book of 
Israel are presented to older boys and girls, who, 
because of the psychological period in which they 
happen to be, are unsympathetic toward them. 


90 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


A lad of eleven came home from Sunday school 
scoffiing at the account of Jonah. 

“They can’t fool me with that stuff,”’ he declared. 

His attitude toward a fairy tale or any other 
story involving the supernatural would have been 
the same. At the age of eleven most children have 
particular admiration for the heroic. They want 
tales of thrilling adventure—true stories as they 
say. Had this boy made the proper acquaintance 
of Jonah in the preceding years, instead of in this 
realistic period through which he was then passing, 
he could have received it with eager interest. He 
would have absorbed its lesson, just as he would 
have absorbed the lesson from Snow White and the 
Seven Dwarfs at a similar age, but might have 
laughed at it later. He was not old enough to have 
explained to him, without further shaking his faith 
in the Bible, that many tales found there were put 
into form by the Hebrew leaders for the sake of the 
truths they taught. Yet he was too old to accept 
the story without interpretation. Had he heard 
it while he was in the earlier stage of development, 
it would have aroused in him moods that would 
have made subsequent ridicule of it impossible. 
As it was, the parents could not correct the impres- 
sion that the story of Jonah was ludicrous. He 
considered it an insult to his intelligence that some- 
body tried to make him believe it was so. He 
became skeptical toward all Bible tales because 
he had found one that was “‘a hoax,” as he expressed 
it. From that time on he objected to going to 
Sunday school. 

Taking into account the particular period of de- 
velopment.—No matter how spiritual or beautiful 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING QI 


a narrative may be, or what ideals it embodies, the 
child must make his first acquaintance with ti in the 
period of his development when he craves material 
of that type, tf it is to benefit him to the full limit of 
tis possibilities. Meat is wholesome food for the 
strong man, but to the week-old babe, who cannot 
chew and digest it, it would be starvation fare. 
Likewise, an athlete would turn in disgust from a 
diet of milk and rice water. It is the same with 
stories. A tale unsuited to a child in his particular 
period of development zs not a good story for him. 
It brings him no message. It will not establish 
ideals or enrich his spiritual life. It may be even 
harmful to him, as was the tale of Jonah to the boy 
for whom its elements had no appeal. On the 
other hand, from the wisely chosen narrative, prin- 
ciples will be absorbed that become part of his code 
of belief and action. 

The boy who at seven thrilled to “Jack and the 
Beanstalk”? and learned the lesson of disaster evil- 
doing brings while he revelled in adventures in an 
enchanted region, never regards that tale as ridic- 
ulous, even though, as years pass, he grows beyond 
accepting it literally. It is the same with the 
Bible stories. The facts of some of them may be 
seen in a different light from that in which they 
were first viewed, but the spirit and symbolism 
of the tales, the religious feeling that was awakened 
in the child at the time of the initial hearing, will 
not depart from him. 

Wonder stories of the New Testament.—The 
New Testament, as well as the Old, has much mate- 
rial that will be received sympathetically by children 
in the imaginative mood. The account of the 


Q2 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


appearance of the celestial hosts to the shepherds 
on the night of Christ’s birth is very satisfying. 
The narrative of the star that blazed in the heavens 
and guided the Magi to the manger never fails to 
delight. 

Very pleasing and nourishing also to children of 
this age are accounts of some of the miracles per- 
formed by Jesus, the multitude miraculously fed, 
the walking on the sea, and the calming of the 
waters, the eyes of Bartimzus opened, and the 
miraculous draught of fishes. In a word, whenever 
the supernatural enters into stories, if the characters 
and events are such that children of from six to 
eight or nine can understand them, they will re- 
spond eagerly to those tales and draw from them 
lasting impressions and truly spiritual lessons. 

Wonder stories not the only ones children with 
active imaginations enjoy.—The question is some- 
times asked, “‘Is one to tell only stories in which 
there is a supernatural element to imaginative 
children?” 

The answer is, No. Children during this age 
are keenly interested in people. All individuals they 
can understand appeal to them now. But at this 
time, more than at any other, they live in a tran- 
scendent realm. Therefore Bible tales containing 
events possible only through superhuman forces 
mean more during this period than at any other. 
The child is in the same attitude of awe and wonder 
toward the mysterious as were his forefathers in 
the early morning of the world. The world teems 
with the mysterious and marvelous to him, and his 
attitude toward the marvelous is essentially reli- 
gious. Later, when his belief in the unseen is not 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 93 


so strong, if he hears for the first time the wonder 
stories of the Bible, he will regard them dubiously, 
even sneeringly. Present-day scientific teaching 
tends to make older boys and girls scoff at miracle 
tales unless, when little children, they have received 
them as wonder stories and have caught from them 
the spiritual message they never fail to leave when 
belief in the miraculous runs high. This feeling of 
congruity for the truth they contain is a direct 
result of familiarity with them during the earlier 
years. Having heard these narratives during the 
early years of childhood, the attitude toward them 
is always reverent, even though, years later, a dif- 
ferent interpretation is given them. 

Summary.—During the early period of childhood 
children want stories dealing with familiar person- 
ages and creatures, stories, that reflect an environ- 
ment with which they are familiar, or about which 
they have some curiosity. 

Children in the later period of development, 
between the years of five or six and eight or nine, 
want tales that feed the imagination, fairy stories 
and narratives that abound in the supernatural. 

Only during the particular period of develop- 
ment in which a story is inherently appealing does 
it influence life to the full limit of its possibilities. 
Therefore, the narrator should use great care in 
choosing material. His standards of selection are 
found in the experience of the group or of the indi- 
viduals for whom they are intended. 


THOUGHT QUESTIONS 


1. Why is it necessary for the story-teller to under- 
stand the story interests of childhood? 


94 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


2. What kind of stories should be chosen for children 
of kindergarten age, and why? Name some 
Bible stories that have an appeal for children of 
this age, and explain why they are appealing. 

3. How does a little child’s interest in his parents 
simplify acquainting him with God? 

4. What are the story interests of children of primary 
years? 

5. Are wonder stories the only ones liked by children 

(in the primary department? Explain your 
answer. 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 95 


CHAPTER V 


THE STORY INTERESTS OF 
PRE-ADOLESCENTS AND ADOLESCENTS 


As the years nine or ten are reached, the child 
emerges from the realm of fancy, so congenial to 
little children, into one of vigorous realism. His 
sense of reality or desire for “hard pan,” is quite 
well developed. Fairy tales and stories tinged with 
the supernatural have lost their peculiar charm 
for him. For some time he has been asking the 
question, ‘‘Is it truer’? He demands stories in 
which something happens, happens speedily, and 
the longer the sequence of lively events the better 
it pleases him. But all the happenings, according 
to his idea, must be possible. At this age he has 
a high regard for his intelligence, and resents what 
seems to him the insult of being told as a fact some- 
thing he considers silly or improbable. He has 
reached the period of adventure. He longs to go 
to far places and have thrilling experiences, over- 
come wild beasts, sail the seas, capture pirates and 
fight savage tribes. The period of adventure has 
come. 


HERO AND ADVENTURE STORIES 


Boys and girls of from nine or ten to fourteen 
years yearn to migrate, to venture into new lands 
and claim them for their own. The actual physical 


96 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


experience being for the most part impossible to 
youth in this period, they get that experience vicari- 
ously.. They imagine themselves doing the things 
they long to do, sometimes to the extent of telling 
wild yarns in which they themselves are the heroes, 
and to the dismay of their elders, who do not under- 
stand the cause of such fabrication and regard it as 
indicative of a tendency to lying. 

This weaving of falsely fabricated stories some- 
times happens during early childhood also, when 
parents and teachers are likely to be astounded by 
having some small John or Joan declare in all 
solemnity that he or she has witnessed or partici- 
pated in happenings as grotesque and impossible as 
any of Alice in Wonderland or the Oz books. Yet 
the child is not meaning to lie. In his imagination 
the events really have occurred. His recounting 
them as facts is but a voicing of experience that 
is very real as he pictures it. If the adult to whom 
such incidents are recounted tactfully suggests 
that, of course, they did happen in the realm of 
make-believe, where anything may occur, he will 
usually find by the child’s reaction that sincerity 
is the underlying motive in telling wild imaginings 
as actual occurrences. It was not a desire to 
deceive. 

It is the same with children in the hero-worshiping 
period. Imagination does not take the grotesque 
flights it takes a few years earlier, but it is unceas- 
ingly active. In their desire for experiences they 
cannot actually have, boys and girls crave stories 
that are made up of adventure and deeds of heroism. 
Narratives that build character during these years 
must be those of heroism, of strong, fearless men 


Sa. Se a oe 
len = 





THROUGH STORY-TELLING 97 


and brave women who accomplish what the hearers 
themselves long to do. 

The hero stories of the Old Testament.—Abra- 
ham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose stories, with that of 
Joseph, make up the great epic of the patriarchs, are 
fascinating personalities to young folk between the 
ages of nine or ten and fourteen. In the earlier 
periods they have had snatches about these men, 
bits here and there that, because of the nature of 
the incidents, had an appeal. Now these same 
characters should be seen as heroes of a great drama. 
Earlier in life, interest was focused on the forces 
that lay behind the various actions, the voice of 
God speaking to Abraham and the journey of the 
patriarch to a far country. Now there is eagerness 
to know what happened on the way. Adventure 
gives flavor to life during these years, and in using 
Bible stories it is necessary to remember that only 
as the boys and girls see the characters as heroes 
of a drama will they find them appealing. 

Hero stories should be told in a sequence.—If 
the characters are to be seen as heroes of a great 
drama, it is necessary to carry them through the 
sequence of events that make up their lives. In 
this heroic period interest centers not so much on 
the children of Israel escaping the oppression of 
Pharaoh, as upon Moses, emancipator and lawgiver. 
Abraham, about whom very little was heard in the 
rhythmic and imaginative years, is a great per- 
sonage now. Picturesque and splendid he seems 
to these older boys and girls, if shown as Genesis 
portrays him, a man of prosperity in Ur of the 
Chaldees, a chief who was almost a king in wealth 
and power, who might have lived on there in luxury 


98 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


had he been willing to worship idols instead of 
Jehovah-jirah, but who went forth into exile and 
to possible poverty and hardship because of loy- 
alty to his faith. 

The whole dramatic chain of events in the life 
of this patriarch is intensely interesting now. Young 
listeners follow him eagerly to the sojourn in Haran, 
where the old father died. In imagination they 
journey with him into Egypt to escape the famine ~ 
that had become a grievous thing in the new country. 
With varying emotions they witness the parting of 
Abraham and Lot, the battle of the kings, Mel- 
chizedec’s blessing of Abraham, the kidnaping of 
Sarah by Abimelech of Gerar, and the spectacular 
procession of sheep and oxen, man servants and 
maid servants, at the head of which the chief went 
to return the woman to her husband and to appease 
him for the wrong done in seizing her. 

In this period, when love of adventure is such a 
vigorous emotion, adventure tales ring true for the 
same reason that age-old fairy tales ring true in the 
earlier period. These stories of the patriarchs 
satisfy even more than modern adventure tales, 
because young people sense without being told that 
they have grown out of the life of a people, and 
for that reason they touch deeper emotions than 
yarns spun by writers of to-day. Boys and girls 
feel the difference between these epics of Israel and 
twentieth-century “thrillers’’ exactly as the adult 
reader feels the difference between the tales of a 
man who has sailed before the mast and talks out 
of his experience and those of him whose knowledge 
of seafaring was picked up in a port town or on a 
single voyage. Intuitively, both old and young 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 99 


distinguish between the genuine and the imi- 
tative when it comes to stories. The adventure 
narratives of the Bible always ring true. They 
satisfy the adventure-loving spirit of youth. 

Leading boys and girls to see the different stand- 
ards of life in different times.—Episodes in the life 
of the patriarchs—of all the Bible heroes, in fact— 
that are hard to reconcile with the ethical standards 
of to-day, can be accounted for without making the 
heroes seem despicable, by explaining that customs 
in those days were different from ours. Abraham’s 
treatment of Hagar seems more a fault of the times 
than of the patriarch himself, if it is made clear 
that a man was allowed as many wives as he chose, 
and that a wife was the possession of her husband, 
to be dealt with as he chose. In order to give 
these old-time stories to young people without 
dethroning the heroes in their eyes, or leading 
them to condone their wrongdoing, it is necessary 
to have them understand that, as the world ad- 
vances, laws and social customs improve. 


“New occasions teach new duties, 
Time makes ancient good uncouth.” 


What would make one a pariah in the twentieth 
century was regarded as ethical when Israel was 
young. This will explain also much of the revenge 
and killing that splashed the lives of some of the 
most high-purposed men of the Old Testament. 
The law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth 
held then. 

The same principles apply to the presentation 
of tales in which the fighting instincts and the baser 
emotions are dominant—revenge, anger, and the 


100 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


like. These are instincts of self-preservation, and 
crude men gratify them in a crude manner. But 
twentieth-century civilization demands that they 
be held in check. ‘They should not be glorified in 
themselves. Wherever in the tales any of the base 
emotions are gratified with impunity from punish- 
ment, it should be made clear that men conforming 
to the highest ethical standards of their time were 
good citizens. But what constitutes good citizen- 
.ship in one age may be crime when the world has 
advanced centuries beyond the standards of that 
age. Living according to the highest light one has 
is not sinful living. It is conscious law breaking or 
violation of the ethical or moral code of their day 
that stamps men as wrongdoers. 

The tales of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph are as appeal- 
ing to adventure-loving boys and girls as is the 
story of Abraham. Like that of Abraham, these, 
too, should be told in a sequence. ‘Then there is 
the great narrative of Moses, with its account of 
the long exodus toward the land that had been 
promised the Israelites. There are the red-blooded 
men of the books of Joshua and Judges, strong, 
elemental characters with both faults and virtues, 
so thoroughly human that children can understand 
them. 

Joshua, the first soldier of the Hebrews, who 
routed the five kings, is a glorious character to 
adventure-craving youth. It is early in the story 
of the exodus that they first meet him, after Moses 
smites the rock of Horeb and the thirsting Israelites 
are refreshed with water. Amalek, grandson of 
Esau and chief of a tribe of Arabs, attacks the 
wanderers as they camp in the desert at Rephidim. 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 10! 


It should be made clear that this was a region of 
hostile tribes, who sallied forth ready to murder any 
one venturing into their territory or coming near 
it. Consequently, the Israelites were forced to 
fight for their lives. 

It is here that Joshua is introduced, a youth who 
had come on the long migration and who had known 
all the horrors of slavery under Pharaoh. He was 
powerful, intelligent, brave, and loyal enough to 
his people to give his life for them if need be. 

Moses knew the courage and devotion of this 
young man, and when the Arabians bore down 
upon them he spoke to Joshua saying, ‘‘Choose men 
and go out and fight with Amalek.”’ 

Joshua obeyed. At the head of the Israelites he 
faced the Bedouins and put them to flight. 

Necessity of investing the Bible stories with 
color.—The necessity of presenting the Bible stories 
with all their natural picturesqueness and color 
cannot be over-emphasized. To say that the 
Israelites were attacked by a king whose territory 
they crossed is to give just a bare outline of this 
part of the story, and a very incomplete idea of it. 
But to make it clear that they were set upon by 
Bedouins, wild Arabs of the desert, a people who 
are intensely interesting to boys and girls, is to 
make the tale alive to them. With this episode 
should be told something of the ways of life of the 
Bedouins, and their history. That they are the 
descendants of Ishmael, the child of Hagar, is a 
very interesting discovery to young people. 

Repetition of incidents that have been given as 
wonder tales or miracle stories.—The act of Moses 
holding up his hands, first of his own strength, then 


102 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


aided by Aaron and Hur, and the success or failure 
that came to the army of the Israelites according 
to whether they were up or down, should be repeated 
when the story of Moses and Joshua is given as a 
hero tale. This incident, however, need not be 
especially emphasized. In the primary period it 
should be presented, not so much as a tale of Moses, 
but as evidence of God’s care of his people. The 
thought of the power of Jehovah coming to the 
army of the Israelites through the devotion of their 
leader feeds the love of the supernatural that is so 
strong at this age. It makes its greatest appeal 
now. If during the imaginative period they have 
had the account of the uplifted arms and have been 
stirred to wonder and reverence by it, the repe- 
tition as part of the story of the great chief will give 
them added pleasure and will stimulate uncon- 
scious belief in the God of the Hebrews. 

From the time of the defeat of Amalek, Joshua 
should be shown as the helper and support of Moses 
until, in the valley of Bethpeor, God reveals to the 
lawgiver the fact that the young man is to succeed 
him, and on the plains of Moab the slave boy from 
Egypt becomes leader of the Israelites. 

Carry on the story of this great chieftain through- 
out its chain of events, with always the hand of God 
strengthening him and enabling him to hold his 
people together until, at the age of a hundred and 
ten, he dies and is buried in the border of his inherit- 
ance on the north side of the hill of Gaash. 

The story of Joshua is such a splendid tale for 
adventure-loving boys and girls, and so rich in 
colorful incident, that no portion of it should be 
omitted. To attempt to tell it in one story period 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 103 


is merely to outline it. It should cover several 

periods, and can be used with advantage through 

nine or ten, if given against the rich background 

in which the children should see this hero. 
The following is a good plan of presentation: 

Part 1. Joshua Overcomes Amalek and Becomes 
the Helper of Moses. Exod. 17. 9-14; 24. 13; 
32. 15-17; 33. 8-11. Num. 14. 1-45. Deut. 1. 
38; 3. 28; 34, 9. 

Part 2. God’s Command to Joshua and the Crossing 
of the Jordan. Josh. 1; 2; 3; 4. 

Part 3. The Siege and Destruction of Jericho. 
Josh. 5; 6; 7. 

Part 4. The Siege and Destruction of Ai and the 
Reading of the Law. Josh. 8; 9. 

Part 5. The Strife with the Five Kings and the 
Opposition of Jabin. Josh. 10; 11; 12. 

Part 6. The Distribution of Canaan Among the 
Tribes of Israel. Josh. 13; 183 19. 

Part 7. The Cities of Refuge. Josh. 19; 20; 21. 

Part 8. The Two and a Half Tribes Dismissed and 
the Altar of the Reubenites. Josh. 22. 

Part 9. Joshua’s Farewell and Death. Josh. 23; 24. 
If the lesson plan of the Sunday school makes 

impossible the giving of the story of Joshua in so 

many parts, the narrator will necessarily have to 

condense and present the tale more in outline form 

than as an epic rich in atmosphere. The sequence, 

however, should not be broken. If, when the 

period of consideration of Old Testament stories 

is ended, the boys and girls do not see the various 

Hebrew leaders as great personalities who have done 

a definite work toward leading their people in the 

direction of well-organized civic life, they have 


104 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


missed much they should have gained. They can- 
not have this comprehension of the place of each of 
these men in the history of Israel unless they see 
them as heroes of a connected drama. If they are 
to catch the lesson of the life of Abraham, of Isaac, 
of Jacob, of Moses, Joshua, or David, they must 
behold each career in clear perspective. Those 
who study American history must see George Wash- 
ington in order to understand the part he had in 
the upbuilding of our country. 

Other splendid heroes for this period of adventure 
craving are Othneil, deliverer of the Israelites from 
the king of Mesopotamia, Ehud, Barak, Gideon, and 
Abimelech his son, Jephthah, the mighty man of 
valor, Samson and Micah. In the account of each 
of these a great deal happens, and from the stand- 
point of children it is all worth hearing about. 

The Benjamite war is a mighty martial chronicle. 
Its recounting will hold the attention of young 
listeners to the point that they will be oblivious 
to all else but thoughts of the struggle that grew 
out of the days “when there was no king in Israel, 
and every man did that which was right in his own 
eyes.” 

In the books of Samuel and Kings are Saul, David, 
Solomon, and Jeroboam, each with a dramatic 
career from start to finish. Asa the good king, 
Ahab, who worshiped false gods and set up an 
altar to Baal in Samaria; Elijah, the righteous 
man of Gilead, who by his devotion to God worked 
miracles. There is the good reign of Jehoshaphat 
and the evil one of Ahaziah. Both of these are 
highly interesting stories, and so are the narra- 
tives of Joash, Elisha, and Hezekiah. The inva- 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 105 


sion of Judah by Sennacherib and the siege of Jeru- 
salem by Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian com- 
plete the great cycle of hero tales that ends with the 
second book of Kings. The Chronicles deal with 
the same characters as those of Samuel and Kings, 
and run parallel to them. Both renderings of the 
narratives should be familiar to the story-teller. 

On the whole, Solomon means more to adoles- 
cent boys and girls than to those in the earlier 
period. He is a less crude and elemental character 
than Joshua and the men of the first books of the 
Bible. Therefore the older young people understand 
him better. Parts of David’s career also belong 
in the adolescent period, and portions of the life 
of Samson and Daniel. These parts are those that 
have to deal with women, or that require a more 
nearly adult understanding than that of boys and 
girls of from ten to fourteen. 

Stories of heroism in first sixteen books of Old 
Testament.—The Old Testament material that 
is especially suited to the needs of young folk who 
respond to the heroic, is contained chiefly in the 
first sixteen books of the Old Testament, omitting 
Ruth. The story of Ruth in its entirety, like that 
of Solomon, belongs in the adolescent period, 
although scattered bits of it are interesting to 
younger children. But the psychologist who has 
gone deeply into a study of children’s story inter- 
ests doubts the wisdom of giving any portion of the 
book of Ruth below the adolescent period. Even 
though little children listen to it, it is not in the 
early years that the benefit from this story is 
greatest. . 

Material should be given in the period in which 


106 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


it means most. The years of childhood are too few 
and too precious to fail to make the most of them 
by an unwise choice of narratives. In each stage 
of development a definite work is to be done, if the 
final result is to be intelligent God-consciousness, 
and a religious attitude of mind and heart that 
manifests itself in right thinking and living. The 
narrator needs to know his children as the painter 
knows the rules of color combination that enable 
him to produce a sunset or dawn at will. The 
blending of blue and yellow will not make red, and 
the giving to the child in the fairy-tale period the 
story of the early Christian martyrs will not cause 
him to respond with every fiber of his being to the 
courage that grew out of the mighty faith of these 
men. He will not catch the great message even 
though, as he listens, he thinks it very dreadful 
that good people had such treatment meted out 
to them. 


THE AGE OF ADOLESCENCE 


The epic period of the child’s life covers a longer 
range of time than any other. From the age of ten 
to eleven on through adolescence hero worship runs 
high, but it undergoes definite transitions. The 
lad at ten, and also at fourteen delights in living 
in a realm of stirring adventure, but his hero at the 
earlier age is a different type of individual from the 
one who awakens his admiration during the later. 
The man who conquers through physical prowess 
alone is his first ideal, he who is rugged and ele- 
mental. But, as he nears adolescence, a more 
refined type supplants this crude one. Deeds of 
spiritual courage and fine idealism arouse admira- 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 107 


tion. The youth who a little earlier valued muscular 
strength and skill above everything else now re- 
sponds to tales of those striving for the victory of 
right over wrong, even though the situations abound 
in little physical exertion. 

The early period of adolescence.—Between the 
years of fourteen and seventeen—the period varies 
with different individuals—life widens in unexpected 
ways. It widens rapidly and extensively, so rapidly 
and extensively that there is almost a sense of 
bewilderment in trying to keep pace with growing 
interests. Social interests are maturing. Boys and 
girls in this period are interested not only in heroic 
individuals, but they come into a consciousness 
of organized social interests. History appeals to 
them now, not only as a chronicle of men of achieve- 
ment, but as a drama of nations, each one of which 
is a participant struggling to solve its portion of 
the problem of the world. Interest in interclass 
and international affairs begins to run high. Spon- 
taneous debates and discussions as to social policies 
are carried on with deep earnestness. 

A new sense of power possesses the boy or girl, 
a feeling of ability to overcome all obstacles, to 
cope with any danger. This feeling of resource 
sometimes far outbalances self-control, which also 
is rapidly growing now, but not rapidly enough to 
keep pace with the sense of ability to cope with any 
situation. Life is marked by an intensity of impulse, 
the impulse to do many different things—to do 
one, and then not to do it, but instead to do some- 
thing that for the moment seems more glorious and 
exalted. Conflicting and sometimes impractical 
impulses they are, due to an effort to understand 


108 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


the rational foundation of life, and to find one’s 
own place in life. These are years of passionate 
idealism, and tales of a very different type are 
needed from those that satisfy in the earlier period. 

Saul of Tarsus overcoming in a struggle with 
himself and growing from a persecutor of Christians 
into the great apostle of the Christian faith is a more 
appealing hero now than David slaying Goliath. 

Stories that satisfy during the first period of 
adolescence.—Highly satisfying to young people 
in the first period of adolescence are those that 
emphasize an ideal heroism, the account of a man 
facing death for a principle, or enduring suffering 
for righteousness’ sake. The narrative of a boy 
true to a trust at a great physical or material cost 
to himself, but knowing the triumph of a satisfied 
conscience is deeply appealing now. Equally 
appealing is the chronicle of him who realizes a high 
ideal through great struggle and sacrifice. Such 
stories are received with sympathy because personal 
ideals mean much now. The ideals embodied in 
stories heard at this time affect the ethical standards 
of the boys and girls who hear them. 

Tales that introduce individuals who are above 
the average physically are not without their appeal, 
but interest centers in the physical as a means 
to the realization of an ideal rather than around 
muscular strength itself. Such stories are especially 
enjoyed by boys and girls of athletic tastes. They 
are wholesome in their influence, especially if they 
embody high ethical ideals. They should have a 
place in the program of the narrator. 

Tales in which men and women figure.—In the 
first, period of adolescence interest begins to be 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 109 


manifested in tales that have both men and women 
characters. The lad in the preceding period cares 
nothing about girls and women in stories, except 
where they help his crude physical heroes to attain 
their ends. Between the years of ten and fourteen 
even girls turn from stories dealing with girls, if 
these tales do not abound in exciting incidents. 
They are interested in narratives that do not contain 
a single female character. They require stories 
filled with action and that satisfy a natural hunger 
for adventure. 

Editors of magazines like Saint Nicholas say their 
greatest difficulty is to find girls’ tales that girls of 
junior age like. Those in charge of children’s 
departments of public libraries report that girls of 
from ten to fourteen read boys’ books quite as much 
as those written for girls. Sometimes the number 
of boys’ books taken out by girls exceeds the num- 
ber of girls’ books issued. Girls as much as boys 
in this period prefer adventure stories to every other 
kind of narrative. For this reason Bible stories 
dealing with men are more popular with juniors 
of both sexes than those containing women char- 
acters. 

Deborah they admire because of her part in the 
defeat and death of Sisera, and the Witch of Endor 
interests them. But they are not interested in 
Mary anointing Jesus’ feet. They can see no 
reason for that act, and regard it as foolish and 
wasteful. They do not understand that in her 
overwhelming gratitude the woman feels very 
humble. According to the junior idea the bestowing 
of a gift upon Christ would seem a better return 
for this service than anointing his feet. There is a 


110 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


poetic appeal in the Magdalene’s act of devotion 
that they do not grasp. 

When boys and girls reach the age of fifteen 
and sixteen, however, it is very different. Personal 
idealism and romance are then stirring in the soul, 
and the devotion expressed by breaking the box of 
ointment touches the deepest places of their nature. 
Stories that portray admirable types of both men 
and women are highly valuable now. They tend 
to foster wholesome thoughts in youths of both 
sexes and to create worthy ideals of manhood and 
womanhood. It is necessary that such ideals 
should be created in the time when sex feeling 
begins to. awaken. 

The later period of adolescence.—Between the 
ages of seventeen or eighteen and twenty-four 
transitions in the nature of the boy and girl are still 
taking place rapidly. They are not marked by such 
turbulence and intensity, however, as the ones 
that characterize the three or four preceding years. 
Sense of power is still a most dominant character- 
istic, of ability to render every situation subser- 
vient to desire. But youths of later teen age come 
slowly into a realization that there is a limit to their 
control over conditions, to their capacity for sur- 
mounting obstacles. Self-control is growing and 
strengthening. There is an increased social sense, 
and accompanying it, a growing respect for law. 
Not always is there conformity to law and the 
established order of things. Frequently independ- 
ence, even defiance, is manifested in regard to 
prevailing opinion and belief. This is the out- 
growth of desire for the expression of individuality 
and freedom from personal restraint. But recog- 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 111 


nition of the necessity of law as the foundation of 
the social order is present, even though particular 
laws are ignored. 

Enthusiasm and aspiration are common traits. 
It is now that dream-houses are constructed and 
life plans are made. Careers are mapped out. 
Definite programs of personal achievement and 
success are formulated. Earlier, although dreams 
are dreamed and air-castles built, life is marked 
by conflicting impulses. A complexity of impulse 
tends to swing desire from one channel to another. 
In the first period of adolescence there are plans 
for the future, but on the whole they are not definite, 
fixed, certain. The later period of adolescence is 
characterized by fixed purpose and unswerving aim. 

Independence, determination for self-assertion, 
dislike of restraint, a critical and sometimes cynical 
attitude toward adults—these are salient character- 
istics during the later period of adolescence, but 
they are tempered by a respect for law, a strength- 
ening of ethical feeling, by a quickened conscience, 
by lofty aspirations and wholesome, intense enthu- 
siasms. The story-teller who works with youth 
in this period has a tremendous opportunity for the 
strengthening of Christian character. By using 
stories that show how to overcome the self-assertive 
tendency that sometimes leads to disaster, and by 
choosing tales that direct enthusiasm and aspira- 
tion along wholesome channels, the narrator can 
be a splendidly constructive influence. 

Stories for the later period of adolescence.—Of 
especial value during this period are tales that 
emphasize the necessity of devotion to social ideals 
and to the best social institutions. The need of 


112 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


this emphasis is especially great because of the 
tendency of many young people to disregard laws 
that interfere with their own pleasures and desires, 
even though they recognize the necessity of law 
as the foundation of the social order. Through 
stories that bring to them concrete examples of the 
fruits of misdirected passion and thoughtless inde- 
pendence, it is possible to overcome the tendency 
to shape their own course of action regardless of 
established laws and institutions. 

During the later period of adolescence sex is fully 
awakened, and plays a vital part in the fixing of 
ideals and the formulating of life plans. It is 
therefore of great importance that young folk of 
this age have stories that teach the higher meaning 
of love, that portray clean, idealistic, but virile and 
buoyant manhood and womanhood. Many a per- 
son has carried perverted ideals through life, because 
of salacious stories heard and read during the days 
of adolescence. To fix in the mind and _ heart 
ideals that embody the higher meaning of love is 
not easy of attainment for the story-teller, but, 
except in the case of those with abnormal tenden- 
cies, it Is within the range of his possibilities, pro- 
vided he chooses material that is as strong in interest 
and as rich in human appeal as it is fine in ideal. 
But it must hold the human appeal, or it will not 
be received sympathetically. The telling of a 
weak story to adolescents is like scattering seed on 
a granite cliff. No growth will come from it. No 
enthusiasms will be quickened by it or resolves 
called into being. It will touch neither the emotions 
nor the life of those whose unwilling ears have 
listened to it. 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 113 


THE BIBLE RIcH IN STORY MATERIAL FOR 
ADOLESCENT YEARS 


The Bible is just as rich in story material for the 
period of adolescence as for the earlier years. In 
the Old Testament there are characters who in 
some parts of their lives are highly interesting to 
boys and girls craving adventure, and even to the 
younger children, but whose appeal in other parts 
is to adolescents. 

Samson, David, Solomon, and Daniel are chief 
among these. David slaying the Philistine and 
battling with Saul in the warfare that marked his 
reign is the hero of an adventure story of the kind 
juniors love. But David the stricken parent 
mourning for Absalom and David, psalmist of the 
Israelites, is of interest to the older group, those 
who have entered the period of romance. Samson 
the strong man and Samson the warrior should be 
introduced to juniors; but Samson betrayed and 
sent to his death by Delilah is a narrative for ado- 
lescents. So too with Solomon and Daniel. 

Solomon enthroned in Israel in the place of Adon- 
ijah, who had exalted himself; Solomon the Temple 
builder and sumptuous ruler who maintained a 
court so splendid it was the talk of the world of 
that day and aroused the curiosity of Sheba’s 
queen to find out for herself if rumors of its mag- 
nificence were true, is the hero of an exciting tale 
for twelve- and thirteen- year-olds. But Solomon 
who brought Israel to the pinnacle of her civic 
greatness, the man who established cities where 
before had been but open hill country and meadow 
land; Solomon, maker of proverbs and songs in 
adversity, is of interest during the later period. 


114 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


For adolescents the story of Solomon should not 
end with his death. It should be understood that 
in making his reign one of unparalleled magnificence 
he put a heavy burden upon the people, one that 
not all his wisdom enabled him to see would make 
havoc in the land. When his son Rehoboam 
succeeded him, the oppressed subjects pleaded 
that he lighten the yoke his father had made so 
grievous. But this impetuous young king, refusing 
to be guided by the counsel of wise men who urged 
him to heed the voice of the people, threatened 
them with even a harder fate than the one they had 
known under Solomon, whereupon ‘“‘Israel rebelled 
against the house of David to this day an 

Daniel in the lion’s den is a wonder story for 
children of primary age. When given as a contin- 
uation of the narrative of Belshazzar’s feast and 
of the loyalty of a man to his faith despite the 
command of Darius, it is an adventure tale for 
those a few years older. But Daniel the man of 
vision, confession and prayer means most between 
the ages of fourteen and sixteen, and even later, 
when idealism runs high. 

Many other characters and narratives of the 
Bible are like those mentioned above. In some 
portions they are nourishing food for little children, 
for juniors, or for both. In other portions they 
have a meaning only for adolescents. The story- 
teller can determine in which age they belong 
according to whether they are tales of miraculous 
happenings, adventure stories, or narratives of 
souls in conflict, or striving to realize high ideals; 
and whether or not they are tinged with romance 
that involves the two sexes. 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 115 


Books of the prophets of interest mainly to ado- 
lescents.—Although scattered incidents from the 
books of the prophets are food for younger children, 
as a whole this portion of the Old Testament should 
be the story material for adolescents. ‘The towering 
figures of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel 
become men of great interest now. Boys and girls 
of this age should also meet Hosea, Joel, Amos, 
and the others who tell forth the meaning of the 
events in Israel. For the most part these are less 
spectacular characters than the major prophets, but 
they are men of great significance and human interest. 

Characters of the New Testament of interest 
to adolescents.—The New Testament, with its 
narratives of Jesus and the apostles, is a treasury of 
stories for the years of adolescence. Matthew the 
publican, John and James, sons of Zebedee the 
fisherman, Simon and Peter, two other brothers who 
were fishers, Paul and Timothy and all of the dis- 
ciple group are interesting, colorful personages to 
these near-adult folk. Individuals of mighty 
strength of purpose they were, simple, uncouth, 
and fearless almost to the point of being divine. 
The ministry and martyrdom of John the Baptist, 
the forsaking of his worldly calling by Matthew, 
a collector of taxes on goods crossing the Lake of 
Tiberias, to become one of the twelve, Peter’s 
ministry and imprisonment, Saul’s conversion and 
long pilgrimage in the cause of Christianity, and 
his final martyrdom at Rome, are incomparable 
stories for adolescents from the standpoint of their 
inherent, even if they had no spiritual value. 

The women of the Bible interesting to adoles- 
cents.—It is during adolescent years that the women 


116 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


of the Bible as personalities should be introduced. 
During the rhythmic, imaginative and heroic periods 
of childhood they are merely incidental to the out- 
come of the story. Now they become of interest 
as human beings. And a goodly company there 
is, even from the early chapters of Genesis. Not 
all of them are as they should have been, but all are 
interesting to those of the adolescent period. Their 
lives carry lessons that need to be learned. Sarah 
and Rebecca, Deborah, Athalia, Hagar, Jezebel, 
Bathsheba, Delilah, Ruth, Naomi, Esther, Martha, 
Mary Magdalene and the other Marys, women of 
the Old Testament and women of the New, all are 
characters that budding. men and women should 
know. Ruth, a maiden of the gleaners, and Esther, 
the captive Jewess who became queen of Persia, 
are especially appealing, and, as examples of high- 
souled womanhood, their histories are conducive 
to the establishing of high ideals. The beautiful 
love tale of Ruth and Boas is wholesome and stim- 
lating. This and other outstanding love stories 
of the Bible, the narrative of Isaac and Rebecca, 
and all the others of the same type that the Old 
and New Testaments hold should be as familiar to 
young people of later teen years as is Mother Goose 
to little children. The incidents themselves are 
intensely interesting and when the characters are 
presented against the vivid, colorful background 
that made up their native environment they are 
unequaled among the great love stories of the world. 

The crowning narrative of the Bible.—The sublime 
narrative of the New Testament is that of Jesus of 
Nazareth, from whose lips came a creed of brother- 
hood that will regenerate mankind. His baptism by 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 117 


John the Baptist, the Sermon on the Mount, the 
refuting of the Pharisees, his calm, understanding 
answer when he was despised in his own country, 
his entry into Jerusalem, his parables and miracles, 
his unceasing toil to uproot hatred from the hearts 
of men, and his voluntary death on the cross— 
these constitute the greatest story of the ages both 
spiritually and as a work of literature. Given 
adolescent youth as it should be given, with the 
Master the central figure of a sublime drama, it 
will bring the finest and deepest emotions into 
activity. It will arouse feelings that cannot be 
expressed. Considered solely as a story it is the most 
superb epic known to man. This fact, combined 
with the one that it is the world’s supreme religious 
document, makes it the tale of tales for the awakened 
heart and soul. All the God-consciousness, high 
faith and consecration of Christianity we dream 
of for flowering youth can be brought about by it, 
provided it is given by one whose skill in presen- 
tation, whose reverence and whose own faith are 
such that, as it falls from his lips, it loses none of 
its mighty spiritual appeal. 

Summary.—Four distinct types of story-interests 
fill the child’s life. The little child wants tales of 
personages like those that are part of his world. 

Following this first period he lives in a realm of 
make-believe. He delights in stories whose char- 
acters are fantastic, supernatural creatures, or those 
in which events occur that are possible only through 
the work of supernatural forces. 

Then there is a craving for true stories, tales of 
heroes, of youth and manhood on the path of ad- 
venture, triumphing through physical bravery. 


118 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


Finally, stories of high idealism are desired, those 
in which spiritual courage more than physical is the 
moving force, or in which physical prowess is a 
means to the realization of a high ideal. Tales 
especially needed now are those that foster respect 
for established laws, worthy institutions, and 
accepted principles, that emphasize self-control, and 
that teach the higher meaning of love and service. 


THOUGHT QUESTIONS 


1. Describe the story interest of children of from 
ten to twelve. 

2. What portion of the Bible is particularly valu- 
able in working with adventure-craving children? 

3. Why is it important that we give children an 
idea of the various standards of life in different 
periods of history? 

4. Should incidents in the life of Moses, Joshua, etc., 
that have been given as wonder tales in the 
imaginative period, be repeated in the period of 
adventure? Why and howe 

5. Prepare the story of Joshua to give in nine 
chapters. 

6. Prepare the above named story to give in two 
chapters. 

4. How many periods constitute the age of adoles- 
cence? Define characteristics of each, and ex- 
plain story-interests of each. 

8. Mention some Old Testament men and women who 
are of particular interest in the age of adolescence. 

g. What is the crowning narrative of the Bible for 
those of adolescent years? Mention six New 
Testament characters beside Christ who are of 
particular interest during adolescent years. 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 119 


CHAPTER VI 
HOW STORIES CAN BE USED 


Morat and religious training should begin in the 
cradle. Systematic instruction along ethical and 
spiritual lines should commence as soon as the child 
begins to manifest an interest in things around 
him. 

In many homes religious training does begin 
then, but it is not always systematic. The mother 
is sometimes uncertain as to the method of pro- 
cedure, or she may think the child too young to be 
put through a definite course of training. Usually, 
scattered bits of Bible stories are given to these 
tiny tots, and not infrequently the ones chosen are 
unsuited to their understanding. Sometimes they 
are told abstract truths that again they do not 
understand. 

In many homes in which a serious attempt is 
made to give religious instruction, babes of three 
and four are informed that God is the great father 
who created all things, and therefore they must 
love him. They are urged to love Jesus because 
he was the Son of God and died to save the world. 
The result is that the small boy or girl is bewildered. 
He has one father. The idea of another puzzles 
him. The thought of Christ dying to save the 
world is too weighty for him to comprehend. The 
little mind is in a state of confusion. Very often, 


120 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


by the questions and remarks of these wee learners, 
parents discover that the teaching is not obtaining 
the results for which they had hoped. They con- 
clude that leading young children into the highway 
of religion is a very difficult matter. Under such 
conditions it is natural for them to infer that children 
are not ready for systematic spiritual training 
before the age of six or seven. 

This is a mistaken idea. To give the tiny child 
a foundation upon which a splendid spiritual struc- 
ture can be built is not difficult. As soon as he can 
understand Mother Goose he can also understand 
brief, simply told stories about God and his crea- 
tures, and be deeply moved by them. But there 
will be no quickening of activity in his emotional 
life if he hears the abstract statement that God 
created all things and therefore he must love him. 
He must have a picture of God as a Creator and 
Father. He must think of the heavenly Father 
as wonderful, thoughtful, and kindly if his response 
is to have educational value. 


THE TRAINING OF THE Younc CHILD 


The man or woman who, as a little child, has 
felt God as the great, protecting F ather, never 
wholly loses a sense of trust in him. Children may 
hear about God, and may be taught the Christian 
conception of God without ever coming to have a 
personal knowledge of him. But to feel him in the 
world that surrounds them is to know him. To 
have a vital knowledge of God is to come into a 
sense of harmony with and trust in him that can 
never be entirely lost. Jt is the business of the 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 121 


religious teacher to bring children into this imme- 
diate, vital knowledge of God. 

God most effectively introduced through nature.— 
The most effective way in which to introduce God 
to the little child is through nature. Take him into 
a garden some day among the birds and flowers. 
If a visit to a garden cannot be arranged, show him 
a picture of children in a beautiful garden scene, 
or one of flowers, of birds in flight, drinking at a 
fountain or bathing in the dust. Then tell him that 
ever and ever so long ago there were no birds, no 
flowers, no little boys and girls, no fathers, no 
mothers, no animals. There were no pretty brooks 
running down from the hills, or springs where people 
could drink when they were thirsty. There was no 
sunshine and no light. Everything was black as 
the darkest night. It was even blacker than that, 
because there was no moon to shine, and no twin- 
kling stars to light up the darkness. There was 
only God, and he was so great and powerful he 
could do whatever he willed. 

God wanted things to be beautiful, good, and 
happy, so he said, ‘‘Let there be light!” 

And light came, because God made the great 
round sun to shine by day. He made the moon 
and stars to brighten the night. He made hills, 
valleys and rivers, pretty brooks and springs. He 
made trees and flowers too—everything on the whole 
beautiful earth. 

From this beginning it is easy to lead to the cre- 
ation of animals and man. Having God the Creator 
introduced in story form, the child is able to under- 
stand God the Father. Because of the approach 
through familiar things—the flowers and birds that 


122 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


he knows, the sun, moon, and stars that have 
awakened his curiosity, and the people that are 
part of his life—he sees him as the father of all 
creatures, of his own father and mother, his grand- 
parents, every one in fact. Thus in the awakening 
mind reverence begins to find a place and a system 
of causation is established. 

Little children need very short stories.— Workers 
with children of three and four should bear in mind 
that these small folk can comprehend only very 
brief, simple stories. To try to hold the attention 
with one tale for more than five minutes is a mis- 
take. No matter how interesting it may be, con- 
centrating upon a theme for more than five minutes 
is a tax upon the mind of the young child that 
results in lack of interest. When this occurs the 
value of the story period is lost. If hearers are 
either physically or mentally weary, the message 
of the narrative is not deeply impressed upon the 
mind. Fifteen or twenty minutes a day of stories 
may be minutes of happiness to babes of three, 
four, and five, but between tales there must be 
periods of activity—a romp in the sunshine, a song 
or march if it be in the Sunday school or kinder- 
garten, or in the home on a rainy day. If there is 
a supply of bird and flower pictures much benefit 
and pleasure will come of cutting and pasting some 
of these after the creation story has been heard. 

Value of the sand-box to those who tell stories 
to little children.—A sand-table or box may mean 
so much to whoever tells stories to little children 
that every home, kindergarten, and Sunday school 
should be provided with one. It is within the reach 
of even the poorest home, because if no other equip- 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 123 


ment is available, there can always be obtained a 
large wooden box, the sides of which can be cut 
down to convenient height. Newspapers under 
and around it afford protection to carpets and 
rugs if it must be placed in a dining or living room. 
Even if conditions prohibit keeping such a box 
indoors always, the value and pleasure to the child 
of playing stories in the sand make the effort of 
moving it in and out, or of emptying and refilling 
it worth while. A sand-pile in the backyard is a 
priceless asset to the home in which there are little 
children, but when weather conditions make out- 
of-door play impossible there should be a sand- 
box in the house. 

Following the account of the creation the small 
child can work out the narrative in sand. He can 
model mountains and plains. Pieces of blue paper 
or bits of a broken mirror will serve as rivers, lakes, 
and seas. Catalogues of florists will supply flowers 
for gardens and the magazines are filled with pic- 
tures of children, animals, and birds. The reli- 
gious leader who supplements the story periods 
with periods of cutting and pasting pictures, or of 
sand play, will accomplish far more than the one 
who uses no such aids. The child’s expression of 
the story in his own crude way is of almost as much 
benefit to him as the hearing. In working it out 
he continues to relive it. Its message becomes 
indelibly stamped upon his mind and heart. 

Long narratives as cycles or groups of short ones. 
—For three- and four-year-old children the account 
of the creation should be broken into several parts; 
that of the making of the world, sky, stars, moon, 
darkness, and light being one chapter in the cycle, 


124 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


that of the creation of animals a second part, while 
that of man makes a third. 

Each chapter told should be constructed as an 
independent story. In breaking a narrative into 
several parts it is necessary that each portion be 
told in such a manner that the rules of story struc- 
ture are observed. In other words, the various 
events should be arranged in such a manner that 
they contribute to a definite climax. In the 
first part of the story of the creation the flooding 
of the world with light that follows the making of 
sun, stars and moon is the climax. 

In the second part emphasis should be placed 
upon the coming of the many animals upon the 
earth, little creatures of the woods and fields, fowls 
and birds that fly “in the open firmament of 
heaven,’ small, four-footed beasts, great quad- 
rupeds of the land and whales of the sea, until 
finally there was “every living creature that 
moveth.” 

In the third and last portion of the account of 
the creation, where man is formed in the image of 
God, the climax lies in the making of Eve to be the 
companion of Adam. 

Leading from the smaller to the larger, from the 
lesser to the great, is what gives climax to a story. 
If this fact is remembered and each chapter is 
constructed with a view to climax, the tale is certain 
to be satisfying to the child, provided it is well 
told. 

Stories should be retold frequently to little 
children.—Every time a child hears repeated a 
story that has been enjoyed, he re-experiences the 
emotions that were his when he first heard it. At 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 125 


each hearing its lesson or truth becomes more 
deeply impressed upon his mind and heart. There- 
fore there should be frequent repetition of stories. 
So long as the child manifests pleasure at the re- 
counting of a tale it is good for him to hear it retold. 
As long as he says, ‘Tell it again,” and his eyes 
kindle with pleasure as the narrator begins it, his 
emotional nature is growing while listening to that 
story. He is experiencing moods that stimulate 
and enrich his personality. 

But once he shows the least lack of enthusiasm 
as the tale begins, or asks for something different 
when it is suggested, it should not be repeated. 
That particular narrative has served him as much 
as is possible in that stage of his development. To 
repeat a story after a child has begun to tire of it 
is to antagonize him, the thing above all others 
the story-teiler should avoid. 

In the kindergarten, church school, settlement 
house, wherever an attempt is made to instil and 
nurture religious feeling in the small child, the 
same principles hold. Give tiny tots brief, very 
simple stories, and tell them again and again, as 
long as interest in them runs high. This does not 
mean that one narrative should be given day after 
day to the exclusion of all others. Give the account 
of the creation of the world, of animals, of man and 
the first parents in the garden, and several others 
if that procedure best fits the mood of the teller. 
But do not present these narratives once only. 
Keep traveling back along the road that has been 
covered. A small child needs to hear the same 
story several times before he absorbs from it all 
that he is capable of absorbing. 


126 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


THE STORY IN THE PROGRAM OF THE HOME 
AND CHURCH SCHOOL 


Broadly speaking, the story should be part of 
each stated period of religious training of children. 
Below the period of adolescence it should have a 
place in every session of the church school, and that 
place should not be a minor one. During the 
period of adolescence it should also have a place, 
though a less prominent one. There are types of 
lessons that do not require the use of the story. 
Especially is this the case where argument, logic, 
historic or scientific accuracy are to be stressed. 
But even between the years of eighteen and twenty- 
four, and in adult classes, the story is a powerful 
aid in emphasizing truth and impressing it upon 
the mind. On the whole it is the most effective 
means of aiding the memory of church school 
pupils. It should be used freely, although it is not 
necessarily a part of every session in the secondary 
division. 

But it zs a necessary part of the program of every 
religious session with young children. During the 
first six or seven years there should be a religious 
tale in the home every day or evening. ‘This seems 
an impossibility to the busy mother; but if desire 
to enrich the child’s soul is great enough, it can be 
accomplished, and without great sacrifice. A few 
minutes will suffice to draw from the Bible the brief 
narrative a little child should have, and the fact 
that the same stories should be repeated several 
times simplifies the task. When the babies are 
put to bed a few minutes more can be devoted to 
the retiring time, enough in which to give them a 
brief, nurturing tale. Children love good-night 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 127 


stories. The bedtime story too, of the mother who 
wishes to inspire a God-consciousness in her children, 
should be the old, old Book that has food for every 
taste and every age. 

Mothers and teachers should be good story- 
tellers.—Because of the supreme place of the story 
in the religious education of children, it is highly 
important that the mother be a good story-teller. 
In fact, when one considers what are the most 
abiding influences during the years of childhood, it 
can be said that she is not a wholly efficient mother 
who does not give narratives to her children. 

It is equally necessary that the church school 
teacher in the elementary grades be a good story- 
teller. The most important item of his mastery 
of method lies in the field of oral narration. He 
should know the Bible from beginning to end as a 
storybook, and be able to put into its tales as he 
tells them the essence of his own faith. All his 
own God-consciousness must be reflected in the 
narratives he gives, if a like God-consciousness is 
to be awakened and sustained in the minds of his 
pupils. 

Stories from supplementary sources.—The worker 
in the religious field should know many stories 
besides those drawn from the Bible. Numerous 
tales outside the Testaments are essentially religious 
and put the child into moods that enlarge his faith 
and foster spiritual growth. For the most part 
these are nature stories and primitive wonder tales. 
Narratives of this type help to make the Bible 
tales more vivid. 

Suppose, in the Beginners’ Department of the 
church school—or in the home—the lesson is on 


128 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


God’s love and care of all creatures. A nature 
story like the following will make love and care 
clear. 


THE GREAT FATHER AND THE BIRDS 


“The creatures God made when he created all 
things were very different in their looks. The sheep 
is not like the horse. The pig is not like the bear, 
and they are as different in the things they do and 
the way they live as in their looks. 

“Some of them are strong and happy in cold 
weather, while others need warm, soft days. The 
big white bear must have ice and freezing water. 
If he does not have them, he will die. But God 
takes care of that. He has put the white bear 
away up in the cold north country, where there is 
everything he needs to keep him well and strong. 

“The robin that sings and twitters throughout the 
summer gets very cold when freezing weather comes. 
He cannot live in a land of ice and snow. So, 
before God sends winter he tells robin to fly far, 
far away to a country where there are no snow- 
storms, where the days and nights are always 
pleasant. Because little robin knows how well 
God cares for him he does as he is told. Away 
to the sunny south he travels, and sings happily 
there until spring comes. Then God lets him know 
it is time to go back, and joyfully he spreads his 
wings and flies home. 

““Many other birds are like the robin. They go 
south when the frost comes and fly back in the 
spring, because God tells them where to go in 
order that they may be safe and happy.” 

The account of the migration of the birds can 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 129 


be one of a_ cycle of tales illustrating God’s care 
of the animals, another chapter of which can be 
built around the squirrel laying up winter supplies 
because the Great Father has taught him that unless 
he does he will starve. The account of the bear 
hibernating in caves and the hollows of great trees 
because God has shown him that is the way of pres- 
ervation also holds much interest in this early 
period. It emphasizes in the child’s mind the 
thought of Omnipotent care for every creature. 

Teaching lessons by Bible stories in early child- 
hood.—In the period when the love of fairy stories 
and miracle tales runs high, the account of the 
Children of Israel oppressed in the land of Egypt 
and delivered from the cruelty of Pharaoh is a fine 
illustration of God’s protecting love and care. 
This story should be told very simply, not as to 
boys and girls in later childhood, with emphasis 
upon the acts of Moses and Aaron and an attempt 
to show them as great personages, but as a narra- 
tive of God caring for those who needed his pro- 
tection, in terms a little child can understand. The 
following rendering illustrates the point: 


Gop SAVES THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL 


A long, long time ago there were some people 
called Children of Israel who lived in a land beside 
a great river. 

Egypt was the name of that land. It was a 
beautiful country, with broad, sweeping plains that 
were the color of gold, and great houses painted 
from top to bottom with wonderful pictures. But 
the Children of Israel were not happy there. A 


130 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


wicked king ruled over them and made them work 
as his slaves. 

Slaves are people who have to work for other 
people and never get any pay for their work. They 
have no good homes, but must live in dirty old 
sheds, in caves in the ground, or any place they 
can find. And they never have enough to eat. 
But no matter how hard things are for them, they 
must go on living in the same terrible way, because 
as long as they are slaves they belong to the man 
they work for, and he will not let them go away. 
The king who held the Children of Israel as slaves 
was Called Pharaoh. He did many dreadful things 
to them. He made them work so long and hard 
without stopping that some who were not very 
strong fell down dead. 

It was all very terrible, so terrible that the women 
and children, and even some of the big, strong men 
cried. They could not sleep at night because they 
were so tired and aching from the hard, hard work. 
If they did not get up early in the morning and 
begin working with all their might, Pharaoh’s sol- 
diers would come and whip them. 

.[he Children of Israel were good people, and 
God did not want them to suffer so. He told them 
to go away from Egypt to a land where they would 
be free and happy, where they might work for them- 
selves, and not have to be slaves of a cruel king. 
He said he would show them the way. 

Now it happened that among the Children of 
Israel was a wise and good man named Moses— 
before beginning this story, if children have not 
had the account of Moses in the rushes, it should 
be told to them—the very same Moses who, when 


OE 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 131 


a tiny baby, was found by the princess among the 
rushes by the river. Moses had grown not only 
into a wise and good man, but into one who was 
very brave and strong, so God said he should be 
their leader. 

Moses gathered the Children of Israel together, 
and they went out of the country where they had — 
been so sad. It was a long, hard way over desert 
and mountains, but steadily and gladly they trudged 
along toward the land God had promised them, 
until they came to the shore of the sea. 


When Pharaoh found that the Children of Israel 
were gone he was very angry. He wanted to keep 
them in the land of Egypt to build houses and dig 
ditches for him, and to do many other things. So 
he called his soldiers and said: “Come with me, 
and get the Israelites back. I will not let them go 
away.” 

Very quickly the soldiers obeyed. They brought 
the king’s chariot, a little two-wheeled wagon 
painted in bright colors and trimmed with gold. 
All kings rode in chariots when Moses lived, for in 
that ever and ever so long ago there were no car- 
tiages or automobiles. The soldiers hitched horses 
to this chariot; splendid, swift-footed horses that 
could go like the wind. 

The soldiers had chariots too, and as soon as the 
king was ready they hitched horses to their own. 
Then away they all went, the soldiers behind Pha- 
raoh, an army of six hundred in all. 

They whipped their horses to make them go faster 
and faster. They dashed across plains covered 
with yellow sand until they came to mountains 


132 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


where the rocks were so sharp and high it took a 
long, long time to get over them. But finally they 
got up one side and down the other. Then, as 
Pharaoh looked ahead, he saw Moses and his people 
going toward the promised land. 


When the Children of Israel saw Pharaoh’s army 
hurrying after them they were very much afraid. 
The sea was just in front so they could not go for- 
ward, and they knew if the soldiers overtook them, 
they would have to go back to the land where they 
had been so unhappy. Some of them cried out in 
fright and covered their faces with their hands. 

But God did not mean to let them become Pha- 
raoh’s slaves again. He spoke to Moses, and said, 
“Lift up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over 
the sea, and divide it; and the Children of Israel 
shall go on dry land through the midst of the sea.” 

The rod was the staff Moses carried to help him 
in walking over rough places.. He lifted it up and 
stretched it over the sea, as he was told. 

Then a wonderful thing happened. The waters 
parted and made a broad, dry path. It was so dry 
it would not wet even a piece of paper. The Chil- 
dren of Israel went by this dry path across the sea 
and came safely to the other side. 

“Look,” the soldiers cried as they watched the 
wonderful thing happen, ‘“‘the Israelites are passing 
between the waters.” 

Pharaoh was terribly angry when he saw that 
Moses and his people were getting away from him. 

“Follow and overtake them,” he shouted. And 
away he went after the Israelites. 

The army in the chariots started across the sea 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 133 


by the broad, dry path, and again the poor people 
were very much afraid, for as they looked back 
they could see the king and his soldiers getting 
nearer and nearer. They were sure now that they 
would have to go back to the hard, sad life in Egypt. 

But once again God spoke to Moses. 

“Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the 
waters may come again upon the Egyptians,” he 
said, “upon their chariots and upon their horses.” 

Moses stretched out his hand as he was told. 
The waters of the sea came together and covered 
the path. The king and his soldiers were drowned. 
Not one of them was ever seen again. But God 
protected the Children of Israel, and they went 
forward on their way. 


In this period of early childhood, the story of the 
Exodus with its many miraculous happenings makes 
a delightful cycle of tales, or a two- or three-part 
narrative. The specific manner of presentation 
depends upon the plan of the course under which 
the narrator works and upon his own mood. If 
given as a two-part story, the first would cover the 
oppression under Pharaoh, the commissioning of 
Moses to deliver Israel, and the plagues of Egypt, 
as related in Exodus 1-12; the other dealing with 
the departure and events on the way, the pillar of 
cloud and fire, the destruction of Pharaoh’s army, 
etc. If given as a cycle, each of the miracle episodes 
can be worked into a separate story, as illustrated 
above in the account of Pharaoh’s army. The 
point is, the wonder tales of the Bible should be 
used to the limit of their possibilities in the period 
when love of such narratives is strongest. 


134 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


The use of pictures illustrating Bible stories and _ 


truths.—Much emphasis should be placed on the 
use of pictures by the story-teller. When well 
chosen they can be of great benefit and pleasure to 
the child. Much of the greatest artistic genius of 
the world has gone into the illustrating of biblical 
stories. Michael Angelo, Titian, Raphael, Velas- 
quez, Botticelli, Murillo, Rubens, Van Dyke, Durer, 
and a host of other masters gave the very flower 
of their talent to portraying happenings in the Old 
and New Testaments. Whenever it is possible 
to obtain them, suitable pictures from this vast 
wealth of art treasures should be used. Print 
reproductions of masterpieces that can be obtained 
for as little as a penny and that help to make the 
stories vivid are within the reach of every church 
school and almost every home. 

The method of using pictures varies with the mood 
and plan of the story-teller. They may be intro- 
duced into the telling of the story. Sometimes it 
is best to have them precede the telling of the story, 
the story itself growing out of the picture, or they 
may follow the telling. After hearing a tale, 


children enjoy studying a picture that illustrates , 
it. They like to find the characters in it, and 


visualize portions of the tale that the picture does 
not touch. So long as there is a definite purpose 
in the mind of the narrator in using pictures, the 
time and method of using them is largely one of 
personal taste. The skillful story-teller sensing 
the response of the class, will use pictures to fit 
conditions, just as she uses the story material. 

The use of poems and songs.—Poems and songs 
that emphasize God’s care may also be used freely. 


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THROUGH STORY-TELLING 135 


It is important also, in working with little children, 
that the story-teller draw with a lavish hand from 
the nature myths and animal and plant legends 
that carry beliefs about origins. These are highly 
religious narratives to the little child, because they 
put him into moods in which he feels omnipotence 
in nature. They enrich his emotional life. 

The following poem will illustrate what is meant: 


THE LEGEND OF THE FORGET-ME-NOT 


When to the flowers so beautiful 
Our Father gave a name, 

Back came a little blue-eyed one, 
All timidly it came. 


And stariding at the Father’s feet 
And gazing in his face, 

It said, in soft and gentle tones, 
And with a modest grace, 


“Dear God, the name thou gavest me, 
Alas, I have forgot!’ 

The Father kindly looked on her, 
And said, “‘Forget-me-not!”’ 


Stories should be told to children, not read to 
them.—The plan outlined above will be suggestive 
to the teacher as to the manner in which to use the 
story. No matter what theme is the basis of the 
lesson, the children should be interested in it through 
the medium of the story. The lesson sheets tell 
the church school worker where to find the Bible 
story. Those prepared by some denominations 
Zive a retold version. When this is done the teacher 


136 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


should then study that story until he can tell it 
well. Jt should not be read. Stories lose half their 
effect when read, because’then the attention of the 
teacher is divided between the children and the 
printed page. In order that the child shall receive 
the full message and experience the joy that should. 
be part of the hearing, a tale must be given with 
spontaneity and enthusiasm. This is impossible 
when the mind and eye of the narrator are following 
the printed lines. 

Reading from the Bible Sxeatl be a part of the 
religious-education program with older children 
and adolescents, but the oral telling of the story or 
part of the story preceding the reading sometimes 
is needed to help interpret what is read. Anyone 
who has been a college, or even high-school student 
of English knows why this is so. A famous Ameri- 
can teacher of literature attributes much of his 
success to the fact that he has been a generous 
user of the story with his classes. In the study of 
a novel or short story he prefaces assignment and 
discussion with enough of an account of the narra- 
tive itself to arouse interest concerning it. The 
result is a reaction on the part of students that 
yields gratifying results. 

Bible stories should be prepared from the Bible 
itself.—If the Bible story is not told in the lesson 
leaflet, the teacher herself should prepare the narra- 
tive according to the principles of story structure 
already considered, and tell it to the children to the 
best of her ability. But whether a retold account 
is at hand or not, she should read the Bible version 
so as to get the feeling or tone of the Bible. Al- 
though for many years artists have been writing 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 137 


Bible stories, the world has yet to see one that 
equals the original either in spiritual or literary 
beauty. The only reason for attempting to retell 
these incomparable tales is because they are given 
in language and style that is not the everyday 
speech of our time. The purpose of retelling is not 
to attempt improvement, but to give a better 
understanding than would result if they were pre- 
sented in the original form, and because the appeal of 
the spoken tale is greater than that of the printed one. 

The story a part of a varied program with older 
children and adolescents.—With children having 
the spirit of adventure, and also with adolescents, 
the story may be used in a program of poetry, song, 
and discussion. But just as with the younger 
people, the oral telling of the story should precede 
discussion. Such a method tends to stimulate 
interest throughout the whole hour. There are 
class leaders so admirably equipped for their work 
that by skillful questioning they can immediately 
arouse interest in almost any subject, and lead up 
to the story in such a manner as to heighten delight 
in the tale. But the worker of average ability and 
limited training will find it easier and safer to let 
questioning and discussion of the theme follow the 
Story. Genius can break all rules without disas- 
trous results. But the beginner in the field of 
religious education, or the worker who is feeling his 
way, will be wise not to disregard them. 

Bible reading and story-telling.—Much Bible- 
reading should go hand in hand with the oral telling 
of the story when the work is with older boys and 
girls, partly that the teacher may absorb the love- 
liness of the language and style of the Hebrew 


138 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


‘narrators, partly that he may drink deeper of the 
messages the pages hold. For instance, follow the 
account of the narrative of the exile of the Jews 
with a reading of the one hundred and thirty-seventh 
psalm. After hearing about the misfortune of the 
chosen people, that song of sad recollection will be 
listened to with deep sympathy. In a word, every- 
thing that will help to make the Bible alive and 
interesting to the child should be considered in con- 
nection with the lesson. The teacher should 
try to reproduce in them the attitudes of the 
Hebrews when these stories emerged from their 
lives. It can be done. If it is not done, the nar- 
rator fails to make the most of his opportunity. 
Pageantry, dramatization, essays and debates.— 
When working with pupils of adolescent years, it is 
sometimes advisable to use the stories as themes 
of essays, debates, pageants, and dramatization. 
In connection with this last suggestion a word of 
caution is necessary. Unless the teacher has suffi- 
ciently mastered the material to have it at the 
fingers’ ends, it is not safe to attempt dramatiza- 
tion. Uncertainty on the part of the leader will 
breed disorder and disaster. But if the stories are 
as familiar as the multiplication table, so that by 
a word here and a suggestion there the youthful 
players can be guided whenever in need of help, 
much benefit will come through dramatization. 
Several publishing houses issue in drama form, 
Bible stories suitable for boys and girls in all grades. 
A list of the same is given in the chapter dealing 
with sources of material. But before going into 
the dramatized version, the narrative should be 
thoroughly familiar to every member of the group. 





THROUGH STORY-TELLING 139 


Pageantry and dramatization should be an ex- 
pression of religious feeling.—If dramatization or 
pageantry are attempted, great care is needed on 
the part of the leader that boys and girls do not 
regard it as putting on a show. It should be an 
expression of religious feeling by those who have 
a part, and unless undertaken in this spirit should 
not be attempted. The right attitude toward this 
type of work can usually be created by giving an 
account of the origin of the Passion Play of Oberam- 
mergau and other religious dramas that have been 
produced for centuries by peasants of the old world, 
each one of which has been an expression of reverence 
and gratitude rather than the desire to produce a 
spectacle. 

The Passion Play of Oberammergau came about 
almost four hundred years ago, when a plague swept 
the little village in the Bavarian mountains and 
threatened to depopulate it. As the people prayed 
for deliverance they vowed that if God would 
stop the ravages of the disease, they would, every 
ten years from that time forth, portray the passion 
and crucifixion of the Saviour as an act of thanks- 
giving to him. 

In that spirit, almost since the days of Columbus, 
with but just a few exceptions due to war or con- 
ditions beyond their control, these simple artisans 
have produced their religions drama as reverently 
as ever men and women knelt in a church. Never 
has it been given as a show in the hope of having 
an audience. Its enactment has been a prayer 
of gratitude, with every one in the village taking 
part. Gradually peasants in neighboring villages 
came to attend the observance in the same spirit as 


140 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


people from one town go to church service in another 
town. Then the world beyond the highlands heard 
about the Passion Play, and within the last century 
there has been an exodus from all over the world 
to Oberammergau, not because the people them- 
selves advertised and tried to draw the multitude, 
but because desire to see the reverence of these 
peasants sent them there of their own accord. 

It is well to make clear to the boys and girls what 
participation in the Passion Play means to the folk 
of Oberammergau. From childhood they try to 
live in such a manner as to be worthy of a part in 
the great religious observance. It is the goal toward 
which they continually strive, and the only hope 
of reaching that goal is by walking in the path of 
righteousness. Like theirs, the attitude of all who 
participate in religious dramas should be one of 
reverence. 

The use of sacred legends in the adolescent 
period.—The teacher of adolescents should supple- 
ment the Bible stories with tales from other sources 
that are saturated with religious feeling. The 
legend of the Holy Grail and its influence on the 
world during the Middle Ages ought to follow the 
narrative of Christ. The achievements of King 
Arthur and his knights, and the life of Parsifal 
should likewise be included in the program of this 
period. fParsifal is the same character as the Per- 
cival of Malory’s “Le Morte d’Arthur,” but the 
medizval bard Wolfram von Eschenbach, who, in 
his “Knightly Song of Songs,’ gave to the world 
the account from which the Parsifal tale is drawn, 
was a master poet and man of much religious fire. 
In his hands Parsifal became a distinct and 


ee 


ee 


a 3 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 141 


different character from the one Tennyson por- 
trays in “Idylls of the King.” 

There should be used also stories of the martyrs 
of the early Christian Church, both among the 
Romans and in Europe during the Middle Ages. 
It was they who kept the flame of Christianity 
burning at such terrific cost—Wycliffe, Bernard of 
Menthon, Luther, and a host of others. The 
example of those to whom the Christian religion 
was so precious that they could endure hardship, 
persecution, and even die for it, carries a great 
lesson to the youth of to-day. As they follow the 
struggles of these heroes and realize something of 
the cost at which the faith of Christianity has been 
kept alive in the world, they come into a con- 
sciousness of the need that they themselves “carry 
on.’ They are like the inhabitants of a certain 
Greek city in their response to the appeal of one 
who stood ready to purchase with his sight, his 
limbs, or even his life, the welfare of his country, 
when he charged his fellow citizens to keep his laws, 
declaring, ‘‘Thou hast had Sparta allotted to thee. 
Adorn it!” 


THOUGHT QUESTIONS 


1. When should moral and religious education 
begin in order to be most effective? Why does 
religious instruction of little children sometimes 
meet with little success? 

. How is God most effectively introduced to the 
little child? Explain reason for answer. 

3. Why should the same stories be retold often to 
little children? When should the retelling of a 
story cease? 


tS 


142 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


4. 


5. 


8. 


9- 


How often should the same story be used in the 
entire program of religious education? 

As a matter of classroom procedure, which 
should come first, the telling of the story or the 
discussion of the lesson? Why? 


. How can pictures be used to emphasize truths or 


help make the story vivid? 


- Why should the mother or teacher prepare the 


story from the Bible itself rather than from 
Bible storybooks? 

Why should Bible reading and story- -telling go 
hand in hand with older children? 

Explain the use of stories as themes of pageantry, 
dramatization, essays, and debates. 


to. Why is it necessary to proceed with great 


caution in using pageantry and dramatics in 
religious education work? 





THROUGH STORY-TELLING 143 


CHAPTER VII 
THE TECHNIQUE OF STORY-TELLING 


THERE are people who believe a course in story- 
telling is a waste of time, both for the student and 
the teacher. They maintain that if it is in one 
to tell stories one can do it, and if it is not, one 
cannot be taught. 

It would be just as logical to argue that whoever 
has an aptitude for music or art will become a 
pianist or painter without instruction, and there- 
fore it is a waste of time to take lessons. Yet any 
one who has watched the progress of an apt pupil 
under a good teacher knows'what a mistaken idea 
that is. 

A person may see a beautiful picture in his mind, 
but he cannot successfully paint that picture unless 
he knows how to mix pigments and apply them to 
canvas. He may have a vision of a splendid sculp- 
tured piece, but he will be unable to make that piece 
real without knowledge of how to shape marble, or 
to manipulate plaster into the caste preliminary 
to the completed statue. He must master the 
underlying principles of his art before he can be- 
come a successful creator. He can master them 
only when through instruction and long, laborious 
experiment and practice he has found out what 
they are. 

There have been men who have won immortal 


144 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


fame because of their achievements in the field of 
sculpture, painting, music, and literature. Unaided, 
they have risen to the heights of great achievement 
because of infinite capacity for work and painstaking 
attention to detail. But these have been individuals 
of supreme genius—Phidias, Michael Angelo, Tin- 
toretto, Raphael, Leonardo da _ Vinci, Bach, 
Beethoven, Shakespeare, and a few others who have 
towered above their fellows as the Himalayas tower 
above the Indian plains. They were not average 
people, doing the work in the world of average, 
everyday men. Because of marvelous gifts they 
were able to work out for themselves, by the trial 
and error method, a mode of procedure that enabled 
them to achieve success. Michael Angelo could 
have in his mind an image of Moses or David, attack 
a block of marble with his chisel, and as if by miracle 
bring nobly executed figures from the rough slab. 
Nobody knows when or how he learned the art of 
sculpture. He simply carved, and carved gloriously. 

But there are millions of people of average ability 
to one of flaming genius, and the ordinarily endowed 
individual must be taught. No matter in what 
field of art he chooses to work, he must learn the 
method of procedure from someone who has traveled 
the road he is endeavoring to travel. He must 
strive to make himself skillful in using the method 
which others have perfected. 

Every person who loves the beautiful can achieve 
success in a small way in putting beauty into the 
world, provided he thinks he can, and is willing to 
exert himself in order to do it. He may not be able 
to draw, paint, or play a musical instrument with 
artistry that will bring him renown, but he will be 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 145 


able to give fuller expression to his own emotional 
life and help to enrich the lives of those in his imme- 
diate surroundings. The world needs every bit of 
ability that lies latent in human beings, and each 
individual should strive to develop his ability to 
the uttermost. It is a part of what he owes in serv- 
ice to mankind. 


ALL PERSONS CAN LEARN TO TELL STORIES 


Story-telling is an art in which it is possible for 
every person who is not handicapped by defects of 
speech to attain some degree of success. This 
art does not require special muscular control or 
acute sense of sound and color, as do most of the 
other arts. Whoever is intelligently interested in 
life can tell about the life he sees and knows. Who- 
ever reads or hears a story sympathetically, has 
one of the essentials in depicting for others the 
happenings in that story. He may not do it skill- 
fully, but he can let people know what he has seen 
and heard. If he masters the principles that govern 
story-telling, he can become skillful enough that 
his description will be pleasing to the hearer. 

Technique of story-telling simple.—The tech- 
nique of story-telling is neither complicated nor 
difficult of mastery. There are no fatiguing exer- 
cises to which hours upon hours of practice must 
be given—exercises that are of themselves without 
interest and are bearable only because they make 
the playing of a sonata or the singing of an aria 
possible later on. The practice necessary to enable 
one to succeed in the field of oral narration is 
pleasant practice, even while the mind is occupied 
with the mechanics of the art alone. The practice 


146 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


/ 


preliminary to the actual story-telling is not neces- 
sarily long. Once the principles are grasped a few 
hours of work will enable one to begin giving tales 
to an audience. Each time an inexperienced nar- 
rator entertains an audience he gains increased 
confidence and becomes more proficient in applying 
the principles. 

Necessity of preparation and practice.—Although 
the course of preparation and practice for oral 
narration is neither laborious nor long, it is necessary 
that everyone who attempts to tell stories have 
this preparation. Without it he can no more 
succeed in holding an audience and in realizing his 
aim than a pianist can give delight if he begins a 
concert with stiffened and unskilled fingers, and 
without having previously interpreted to his own 
satisfaction each selection he attempts to interpret. 
The architect knows the laws of. house-construction, 
but before directing men to begin the erection of a 
new edifice he definitely fits those laws to the piece 
of work that is to be done. 'He makes a detailed 
plan. He prepares in advance so that once the 
structure is begun he knows what the next step 
will be and why it is necessary in the building of 
that particular edifice. It is the same with the 
story-teller. He must plan each piece of work. 
Not only must he plan his work, but, by prepara- 
tion and practice, he must train himself skillfully to 
carry out that plan. 


PREPARING THE STORY 


Success in story-telling is possible only when the 
spirit of the story fits into the teller’s own mood. 
Upon first thought this seems difficult, but it really 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 147 


is not. Familiarity with situations and people 
makes us sympathetic toward them. The average 
stranger as we pass him in the street does not awaken 
our interest. Only as we see some one of a per- 
sonality so striking that the dominant features of 
that personality are evident at first glance do we 
feel, “I’d like to know that person.” But the 
average person, the one we pass without especially 
noticing, usually, proves to be interesting and 
appealing as we come to know his human qualities. 

It is the same with stories. If it is a good tale, it 
contains a human appeal that cannot be resisted. 
Sometimes, in a first reading this appeal is missed 
because of the mood in which the reader happens to 
be, or because it is read carelessly and is not under- 
stood. But once the heart of the story is felt, once 
the characters are beheld as pulsing human beings, 
it arouses interest. There is awakened a desire to 
know what happens to them as they move through 
the tale. Therefore the narrator must know each 
story. He must know it in such a way that it will 
fit into his moods. 

Knowing the story.—Knowing a story does not 
mean memorizing it word for word and sentence 
for sentence. It means having such a full knowl- 
edge of the chain of events that make up the 
sequence that they can be carried in the mind 
without effort. It means having a clear mental 
picture of every scene in which a portion of the 
action transpires. It means knowing the characters, 
their customs, impulses, and thoughts. It means 
living with the story until it has become like a@ real 
experience to the teller. Unless the tale is real to 
the narrator himself it will not become real to those 


148 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


who hearit. It cannot be an influence for quickened 
moral or religious feeling unless it seems an actual 
experience. Only as emotions are aroused in the 
hearer like those that incited to action the char- 
acters in the tale does the work of the narrator bear 
fruit. The child’s nature will not be stirred deeply 
by a tale unless he has felt with the characters, 
unless he has experienced with them sorrow, pleasure, 
indignation, fear, contempt, pity, and various other 
feelings. Ideals are born and high purposes fostered 
only when the emotions have been touched. : 

Knowledge of story comes only through study.— 
Adequate knowledge of the setting, characters, and 
sequence of incidents in a tale comes only through 
careful study. To read a narrative once or twice 
is just the beginning of preparation. Ordinarily 
several readings are necessary to fix the order of 
events in the mind. Even if the mind is unusually 
retentive, one reading will not suffice to make the 
scenes vivid to the smallest detail, as they must 
be if the child is to live through them. Therefore 
the following course of preparation should be 
followed by the student ambitious to succeed as 
a narrator: 

First, study the story to learn its plot.—The 
amount of time required for this will depend entirely 
upon the memory power of the student. Some, 
will have a clear grasp of the order of events after 
one reading; three or four readings will be necessary 
for others. But those to whom memorization is 
slow and tedious in the beginning will find the task 
less arduous as they work with stories. Each tale 
mastered makes the mastery of succeeding tales 
easier. It is not possible to develop a poor memory 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 149 


into a phenomenal one, but it is both possible 
and comparatively easy to improve it so that it 
will serve one without great labor. 

Studying characters and setting.—After the plot 
has been mastered and the order of events fixed 
securely in the mind, the story should be studied 
again, this time with a view to the characters and 
setting. Now the student is concerned not so 
much with what the characters do as with why they 
act, the motive that lies behind their movements, 
and the outstanding character traits. In what 
kind of an environment do they live? Are their 
homes wretched hovels or homes in the full sense 
of the word? 

An effort should be made to picture the country 
in which they work out their destinies. Is it plain 
or mountains, desert, well-tilled valley, or tangled 
jungle? If in town, is it picturesque or ugly? Ifa 
city, are the characters centered in a beautiful 
residence quarter or in a jostling, ill-smelling part 
where human beings are crowded together like 
cattlee The scenes and characters must be vis- 
ualized. They must be seen and felt, as they are 
seen and felt in life. The narrator must react to 
them very much as he reacts to the people he meets, 
if through his portrayal the child is to react natur- 
ally and vitally to them. He must like and dislike 
them as he does in life. He must approve and 
disapprove their various acts as decisively as he 
approves and disapproves the conduct of his ac- 
quaintances. 

Aids to visualization.—An excellent aid toward 
visualizing the characters and setting of a story 
is to portray them on paper. If the student is apt 


150 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


at drawing, much benefit will come through making 
pictures of the persons and scenes. Even if in the 
beginning these seem a trifle vague to him as he 
attempts to picture or represent them, they will 
take form. 

This is what the illustrator does when commis- 
sioned to make pictures for a book or tale. He 
studies the story with a view to plot, characters, 
and setting. Especially is he concerned with the 
characters and the setting. He lives with the tale 
until these begin to be real to him. Then, as more 
and more clearly they work out in his mind, he gets 
them onto paper. Once having them in visible 
form they are fis characters, and stay with him 
aS a permanent possession. 

Whether or not the student can illustrate his 
stories by drawings, he should use both characters 
and setting as themes of composition. Suppose 
one is preparing the narrative of the dream of 
Pharaoh and the interpretation by Joseph, as re- 
lated in the forty-first chapter of Genesis, the 
following themes should be made the bases of 
drawings or composition: 

The river scene in which the kine appear, Genesis 
ALi: 

Scene in the palace when Pharaoh wakes from 
his dream, Genesis 41. 8-14. 

The: arraying and eae of Joseph, Genesis 
41. 39-45. 

Scene of the famine in Egypt, Genesis 41. 54-57. 

The meeting of Jacob and his sons on the return 
from Egypt, Genesis 42. 36-38. 

Describing these scenes, either with words or the 
lines of a drawing, will make the story far more 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 151 


vivid. Before one can describe the various. situ- 
ations it is necessary to have definite, clear mental 
pictures of them. In thus working with the char- 
acters, the beginner in the field of oral narration 
will focus his attention upon them and will be able 
to recall them with greater ease. 

To formulate written and oral descriptions of the 
characters aids greatly in securing the necessary 
vivid, complete conception that is so necessary. If 
it is not possible to give such descriptions, the 
student needs to put more study on the story. 
Until he can describe both persons and scenes in a 
tale he is not equipped for telling it. Joseph, Jacob, 
Reuben, Judah, and Israel should be described. 
How do they look? Is Joseph tall and of splendid 
bearing, or is he awkward and stocky? If the 
narrative gives a definite impression, there is a 
definite mental image of these men. If each does 
not stand out as a distinct character, the story 
should be read and reread until he does. The 
picture of Joseph in the narrator’s mind may be 
very different from that portrayed by some of the 
painters of biblical scenes and characters. It may 
not even be correct from the standpoint of dress. 
But Joseph must be a real person to the seein) 
or he will not be one to the child. 

In recounting the tale the narrator will not 
describe each of these scenes and personages in 
detail; it is the impressions he has of them that are 
so important. In any field of teaching 7/ ts neces- 
sary to know more than one makes use of. Otherwise 
the child senses that something is lacking in the 
instructor. The master story-teller is richly steeped 
in his material. Hence he dispenses it with such 


152 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


ease and spontaneity that he seems an unquench- 
able fountain. The one of meager qualifications, 
who knows but little more about his subject than 
he is scheduled to teach, may be letter: perfect in 
such information as he possesses, yet intuitively 
the child feels that the stream is about to run dry. 
If the story-teller is to rise above mediocrity, he 
must obtain an abundance of material. He must be 
steeped in the imagery and feelings of his tale if it is 
to be more than a dry chronicle to those who hear it. 

How untrained story-tellers succeed.—There are 
men and women, who, without formal training in 
the technique of story-telling, can hold people 
spellbound with their narration of the Bible tales. 
A woman of meager schooling was the teacher of a 
group of boys from nine to twelve, a lot of decidely 
tough fellows recruited from the worst. district 
of a large American manufacturing city. Yet she 
held them with what seemed to be almost hypnotic 
power as she told them the Old Testament stories. 

Finally she moved away. ‘A university girl, a 
trained story-teller, took her place. The first 
Sunday there were twenty-three boys present, the 
usual number and the full enrollment of the class. 
The following week nine came. A Sunday later 
not one boy appeared. From the standpoint of 
schooling there was no comparison between these 
two teachers. The university girl had received her 
bachelor’s degree in English and was then doing 
graduate work. She had had a course in story- 
telling under an excellently qualified teacher. The 
woman knew almost nothing of the literature of the 
world. She had had no opportunity for such 
study because the demands of her life made it 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 153 


impossible for her to get to the public library, and 
there was no money with which to buy books of her 
own. But she knew her Bible. She had read and 
reread it—had absorbed all its color and romance. 
She had eagerly gleaned from sermons she had 
heard and from books borrowed from time to time, 
a vast amount of information concerning the ways 
of life in Bible lands and times. She was saturated 
with her subject and full of enthusiasm for it. Out 
of this rich store she gave freely to the boys in her 
care. She made the Hebrews appear as living, red- 
blooded people to them. Her knowledge of them 
was rich in detail. It was vividly interpreted, for 
she believed in them. 

Writing the story preliminary to telling it.—Once 
the narrator is steeped in his story material, after 
he knows the plot and has visualized the characters 
in their various settings until he has clear mental 
pictures of them, it will be well for him to write 
out the tale as he would give it to an imaginary 
audience. There may not be time for this phase 
of preparation as a part of each lesson. The busy 
mother probably cannot do it at all. But the student 
who is fitting himself for the great work of religious 
education should write out his stories whenever 
possible. This test will prove to him whether or 
not he is ready to tell them. If he cannot make 
a written version with ease, he needs more study. 
Until he can put a narrative upon paper without 
hesitation he will not be able to tell it without 
hesitation. It is not yet his story so that he can 
Make it seem valuable to the children. 

Describing the scenes of the tale versus remem- 
bering the words.—Finally, when the student is 


154 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


ready to tell the story, he should: practice it. He 
should deliver it to an imaginary audience, always 
with his attention upon the scenes and characters. 
If he has lived with the tale until it seems like a 
part of his own experience, the words with which 
to describe those scenes will come, just as words 
come to a sailor when he recounts his experiences 
at sea, because he knows what he is talking about. 
A person may have no language gift, and. be slow 
of speech in regard to most subjects, but when he 


tells of something through which he has lived, he 


does not fail to interest those who hear. 

This point can hardly be emphasized too strongly. 
Always attention should be centered on the scenes 
and characters of a story. The thought should be 
of the pictures and activities that constitute the 
plot, and words with which to describe those activ- 
ities and pictures will not fail one. If, on the other 
hand, the mind is centered on trying to remember 
the book version of the narrative, if a word or 
sentence cannot be recalled when needed, failure is 
sure to result. In thinking about the language, 
vivid mental pictures are impossible. There does 
not exist any well-stocked supply house of imagery 
from which the narrator who is ars about words 
can draw. 

Repeating words of book version is not story- 
telling.—There are many stories in portions of which 
the language is so exquisite that to change it in any 
way is to have the children lose much. Such por- 
tions should be memorized and given as in the book 
version. These may be bits of dialogue, an excep- 
tionally gripping opening paragraph, climax. or 
ending containing a sentence that should be left 


a 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 155 


with the child. When these memorized portions 
are given, the narrator should throw his whole 
effort into giving them to the full possibility of 
their dramatic effect. But to attempt to learn a 
story from beginning to end, and to give it exactly 
as it is told in the book, is bad story-telling pro- 
cedure. In fact, it is not story-telling at all. It 
is a recitation, or dramatic reading. 

A child will not react to even the best of dramatic 
reading as he reacts to the moderately well-told 
tale. The former makes the situations and char- 
acters seem less real to him. He senses that some- 
thing has been learned. It is not spontaneous and 
natural, like the outpouring of an experience. It 
is formal. One of the chief charms of story-telling 
to a child is its informality. He feels a sense of 
intimacy with the characters in a tale that is well 
told. He does not feel this intimacy with the 
characters in a recitation. 

Dramatic reading and_ story-telling are two 
distinct arts. Each has its place in the culture 
program of present-day life, but the place of 
dramatic reading in the program of child education 
is in supplementing story-telling. It may be used 
to excellent advantage to help emphasize a story 
that has been told. For instance, if the account 
of the Exodus is given to boys and girls in the 
adventure period, with emphasis upon Moses the 
leader, the reading of Alexander’s ‘‘Burial of Moses” 
will be a valuable finale to the tale. It will give 
to the class a vivid and lasting impression of the 
close of the earthly career of the great lawgiver 
of the Hebrews. But never should such reading 
or recitation supplant telling the story. 


156 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


TELLING THE STORY 


When the tale has been thoroughly prepared as it 
should be, the narrator can face his hearers equipped 
for real accomplishment. He can lead them into 
the region where the action of the story transpires. 
He is not groping for words, or trying to remember 
what happens next. He is recounting experiences 
through which the characters have lived, and 
through which he has lived with them. He is not 
giving a record of these experiences through laborious 
effort. He is recounting them with spontaneity 
and buoyant feeling, as he describes a happening 
in his life. Because of this buoyant feeling he can ' 
make the message of the story clear and vital to his 
auditors as he cannot do if his mind is concentrated 
upon the language and the order of events. He can 
tell the story with an enthusiasm and earnestness 
that will stir productive feeling, that will create 
ideals and high purpose and result in worthy action. 

Look into the eyes of the auditors.—The story- 
teller should be direct and forceful in his manner. 
His glance should travel along the faces of his 
hearers. It should not be upon the floor or ceiling, 
or rambling along the windows. He should look 
into the eyes of those who make up his audience. 
He is talking to them. He should by his manner 
make them feel that he is confiding something to 
them, that he is revealing to them some rare expe- 
rience or bit of knowledge. They will not have 
this feeling of participating with him if he stares 
into space. 

Make the vocabulary fit the story.—It is of great 
importance that the language in which a tale is told 
should fit the spirit of that tale. An account of a 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 157 


runaway horse should be described in terse, short 
sentences, and, for the most part, short words. Do 
not say, ‘‘The animal saw the locomotive, gave a 
momentary start of alarm, went galloping down 
the street.”” Say instead, ‘‘The spirited creature 
heard the whistle of the engine. He saw the great 
black object moving toward him, closer, closer, 
shrieking as it came. His eyes rolled with terror. 
He snorted, pawing around the post where he was 
tied. Then, with a mighty lunge, he broke the 
rope that held him and tore madly down the street.”’ 

A description of a desert, or slow-moving river, 
each of which is suggestive of repose, would go 
something like this: ‘‘The desert shimmered under 
the noonday sun, tawny, like the pelt of a lion, 
stretching away to the purple mountains piled 
along the Arizona border.” ‘“‘The river moved 
slowly, like some sluggish living thing, across the 
undulating plain country, and into the yucca thicket 
that fringed the coast.’ 

Children instinctively feel whether or not the 
language in which a story is told is suitable to the 
characters and actions of that story. In that 
popular nursery tale, “The Three Billy Goats,” 
the pleasure of the little people hearing it is very 
keen if one says, ‘‘Trip-trap, trip-trap, trip-trap, 
Big Billy Goat Gruff went over the bridge.’’ It 
is not nearly so enjoyable to them if one says merely, 
“Big Billy Goat Gruff went over the bridge.” 

Vocabulary and sentence structure that fit the 
scenes and action of the tale—this is a cardinal 
point for the narrator to remember. 

Dialogue.—Talking characters help to make the 
story vivid. John said to his mother, ‘‘I give you 


158 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


my word of honor to be home by six,” is more 
dramatic than “John promised his mother to be 
home by six o’clock.” ‘This is especially true if the 
voice of the narrator simulates the voices of the 
characters, the gruff speech of the crabbed old 
man, the gentle tones of the good princess, and the 
drawling ones of lazy Peter. An oral story cannot 
be made up wholly of dialogue. But dialogue 
interspersed with bits of narrative heightens dra- 
matic effect. And dialogue should be realistic. 
It should be true in tone to the character. More- 
over, it should be given in the vocabulary the 
character would be /zkely to use. 

Change in rate of speaking.—Another thing that 
helps to make a tale dramatic to those who hear 
it is to vary the rate of the telling to fit the action. 
Where the deer breaks into the garden and goes 
crashing among the shrubbery the movement speeds. 
Where there is a description of the weary princess 
drowsing in the sunlight, the rate of movement is 
slow. Judgment and ingenuity on the part of the 
narrator must mark the telling of each story. Dia- 
logue and varied movement both, must be skillfully 
used to heighten dramatic effect. 

The pause in story-telling.—One of the greatest 
aids of all in making a tale dramatic to the hearers is 
to use the pause. Pause is the highest form of 
emphasis in oral delivery, and intensifies eagerness 
to know what is about to happen. ‘“‘John saw the 
snarling dog lunge toward him, and then—” In- 
stantly the children are tense with eagerness to 
know what comes next. They imagine and wonder. 

Pause is also the most effective means of reviving 
interest that has begun to wane. When John 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 159 


shows by his face and manner that his mind is 
wandering from the thread of the tale say, ‘‘And 
John, the very next minute—”’ Quickly he is 
recalled to the scene of the tale. He wonders what 
happened the next minute. 

Pause is also an aid to the narrator who has the 
misfortune to lose her audience because of having 
poorly prepared the tale. It serves the double 
purpose of enabling her to think of what to do or 
say next at the same time that she regains attention. 

Action and gesture in story-telling.— When telling 
a story the main thing to remember is that the work 
of the narrator is to describe scenes and actions. 
He should tell what the characters do as they move 
through the tale, but he should not represeni their 
actions. He should not jump, bend, distort his 
body and attempt to imitate the characters. Action 
on the part of the story-teller attracts attention 
to himself, which is a distinct weakness. His 
business is to focus the interest of his hearers upon 
the scenes in the tale. To introduce movements 
of the body into the narrative or indulge in facial 
gymnastics, leads the mind of the auditor away 
from the tale to the teller. He should keep himself 
in the background. Not he but the characters in 
the narrative hold the center of the stage. When 
the children are thinking about how funny the 
story-teller looks they are not thinking about the 
story. They may be entertained by his antics, 
but are not catching the spirit and message of the 
tale. 

This answers the question of gesture. It does 
not mean, however, that the narrator must be 
motionless as a wooden image. Gesture should 


160 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


be used if it comes naturally. But all violent 
body and facial movements are to be avoided. 
There should be no jumping, twisting, no body 
poses of any kind. If one gesticulates naturally 
in talking, if gesture accompanies the ordinary 
conversation, it is not objectionable in the story- 
teller. Under such conditions it is transformed 
in the narrative and seems part of it. But never 
should it be introduced for studied effect. The 
great underlying principle of oral narration is that 
it must be natural. A story that abounds in gesture 
introduced for effect is not natural. Therefore, 
from an artistic standpoint it is bad. 

The voice should be natural.—The voice of the 
narrator should be that used in his natural speaking. 
He should not attempt tone effects any more than 
he should attempt those of posture. In dialogue 
portions that simulate as nearly as possible the 
voices of the characters increase the vividness to 
the child. But in the narrative parts the voice 
should be that of the story-teller’s everyday speech. 
Voice is a medium through which the hearers see 
the people and scenes in a tale. It should be used 
in a manner so natural, so much a part of the one 
who gives the story, that there will be no thought 
in the minds of the auditors of how his tones sound. 

All this sums up in the statement that the narra- 
tor who has lived with the story until it is like a 
personal experience will not become affected or 
commit faults of either tone or gesture. The true 
story-teller will not be able to take himself away 
from the scene of the tale sufficiently to think about 
how to pitch his voice at this point or hold his body 
at that. He will be living the story, and the children 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 161 


will live it with him. Under such conditions the 
lessons that come to them will not be forgotten. 

Do not moralize in telling a story.—There is one 
vital principle the narrator must make his own 
if he is to realize his aim. He should not moralize. 
He should not tell what he thinks about the behavior 
of Esau when he sells his birthright, of Eve when she 
heeds the voice of the serpent, or of any other 
character in any tale. He must take his hearers 
to the scene of the story and let them see for them- 
selves and draw their own conclusions. To point a 
moral while giving a narrative is the worst kind of 
pedagogy and art. The child sees the moral for 
himself if the tale is skillfully presented. He resents 
having the story-teller stop and call attention to 
what is already clear, because it breaks the thread 
of the tale and spoils his pleasure in it. He wants 
to know what happens next, not what the story- 
teller thinks about what has happened. 

The moral of the tale may be considered after it is 
finished, when it is beneficial to have some dis- 
cussion regarding it. But this discussion must be 
_ skillfully handled if it is‘to be of real value. The 
‘child should not get the idea that the story was 
told just to teach him something. He does not 
want to be taught. Teaching is most effectively 
accomplished by one who entertains children, who 
leads them to see for themselves the consequence 
of right or wrong conduct, who is the medium 
through which unconsciously they absorb lessons 
they should learn. 

The story-teller then, should aim to lead his 
hearers into regions where they will have the ex- 
periences which he wishes them to have. In order 


162 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


to do this he must wipe out all consciousness of 
self, and he can accomplish this only by so com- 
pletely losing himself in the events and characters 
that he forgets that he, as an individual, exists. 
Then will he become to his hearers a magician 
who spirits them into a fascinating, distant realm. 
Then, and then only, through living, vivid expe- 
rience, will he succeed in creating moods out of 
which ideals and faith are born. 


THOUGHT QUESTIONS 


1. Why are story-telling courses helpful even to 
those with special aptitude for telling stories? 

2. Explain the steps in preparing a story for telling. 

3. Name two aids to visualization, and explain 
why each is helpful. 

4. What is the secret of the success of some un- 
trained story-tellers? 

5. Why is it bad story-telling procedure to memo- 
rize the book version of a story? 

6. What is the difference between story-telling 
and dramatic reading? 

7. What is meant by making the vocabulary fit a 
story? 

8. Why is is advisable to use dialogue in story- 
telling? to change the rate of speaking? Ex- 
plain the value of pause in story-telling. 

9g. Should action and gesture be used in telling a 
story? Explain answer. What voice should be 
employed in telling a story? 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 163 


CHAPTER VIII 
TYPES OF STORIES AND THEIR USES 


A WIDE variety of types of stories is found in the 
literature of the world, and each type has fulfilled 
some definite purpose in transmitting the feeling, 
thought, and history of the race. There are epic 
stories and historical romance. There is myth, 
fairy tale, legend, realistic story, parable, and fable. 
There are tales of adventure, love stories, and alle- 
gorical narratives. Each type has grown somewhere 
and at some time out of the life of a people. The 
essential nature of each determines the particular 
use to which it can be put in the program of aaa 
education. : 


CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES 


These stories represent man’s inner struggles 
and desires. They portray not only what he 
actually has done in working out his destiny, but 
what he has eagerly yearned to do. They mirror 
life or some phase of life. No tale that has lived 
was written originally for the purpose of winning 
fame or making money for its author. It is the 
outpouring of its writer’s soul, or of the souls of 
others whose workings have been revealed to him. 
Although often both fame and money have come 
of the writing, the urge that prompted it was some- 
thing deeper and more vital than eagerness to 
attract the public eye. It was a vent for pent-up 


164 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


feeling as necessary to one who has observed broadly 
and thought deeply as a steam valve is to an engine. 
That is why whoever works in the field of literature, 
either as a writer or as an oral narrator, should 
approach his work with reverence and something 
of humility. In giving stories he is drawing back 
the veil from the most intimate and sacred phases 
of the experiences of those who have wrought nobly. 

Fairy tales.—As already stated, the fairy tales 
that have come down the centuries were religious 
stories in the beginning. They have undergone 
many transitions in their journey through the ages. 
They have become modified to fit conditions of 
life in which those among whom we find them lived. 
In the beginning they were colored by the character 
of the country in which they were formed, those 
that originated in lands of ice-bound, storm-racked 
winters, wild mountains, deep ravines, far-reaching, 
austere deserts and wind-whipped steppes being 
made up of fiercer personages than the ones found 
in tales that grew in countries where the landscape 
was one of mild beauty and the climate balmy and 
gentle. The giants of the former are repulsive and 
cruel, and even the fairy god-mothers are severe. 
The men and women in the tales of rugged lands 
are stronger, and the children are sturdier than 
those in regions where the physical features are less 
wild. 

Likewise, as people moved from one land to 
another, the characters in their stories grew fiercer 
or gentler, according to the scenery of the new 
location. In Scandinavia, where the mountains 
are rugged, the coasts jagged and dangerous, and 
the cataracts voluminous and raging, and in Fin- 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 1605 


land, Iceland, and Russia, where men are icebound 
for many months and where blizzards and wind- 
storms rage through the mountains and sweep vast 
plains, the struggle for existence is bitter, and there 
the tales are like the country—stern and austere. 
They typify the savage nature that encompasses 
the people among whom they grew. But in Bel- 
gium, Germany, Italy, and France, where the face 
of nature is milder, a gentler lot of supernatural 
creatures are heroes of the stories. The kobolds 
of Danish fireside tales are a more affable lot of little 
people than the trolls of the northernmost fjords. 
Gentler too are the brownies of Scotland and the 
leprechauns of Ireland, where the ocean is not as 
savage as under the midnight sun, where there is 
not the terrific depth of ravine or height of mountain 
that we find in Norway. 

The little people of the Austrian and German 
mountains, the nixies, who figure in the stories of 
the Thuringian and Bavarian peasants, are winsome 
whether they are doers of evil or good, and some- 
times among them we find both. The fées of 
France are lovable, gracious folk, the embodiment 
of beauty and charm. The bad fairies in the French 
peasant narratives are less repulsive than those 
in lands further north. | 

The person who reads translated fairy stories 
gets a poor idea of the characteristics of the tales 
of different lands, because most books of such 
narratives as we have them in the United States 
and England are a heterogeneous collection of 
stories from a dozen different countries. All of the 
spritelike creatures are called fairies, and the gro- 
tesque little fellows are brownies, gnomes, or dwarfs. 


166 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


He who reads these volumes does not make the 
acquaintance of the kobolds of the Danish glens, 
the nixies of the German highlands, Ritbezahl and 
the merry little people of the Bohemian mountains 
and the rest of the interesting company of super- 
natural folk that troop through the racial tales. 
But the folk-lorist, who makes his collection at the 
firesides of the peasants and hears the stories told 
in their tongue, learns that those of different lands 
are as distinctive from each other as the cultured 
resident of a city is from the gipsies of the plains. 

In the Maritime Alps, back of the French Riviera, 
many of the peasant tales cluster around Ksterella, 
a nymph who entices men from their homes. But 
she does not send them to destruction. She leads 
them forever in pursuit of her over the crags and 
cliffs, but does not cause death. But some five 
hundred miles north of the Riviera, where the Rhine 
gorge is steep and fissured and the winters are fierce 
compared with those of the south, is the river 
maiden called Lorelei, whose delight is to lure 
sailors to their doom in the whirlpool at the foot 
of the cliffs. She is a harder, more northern char- 
acter than Esterella, as in turn the Witch Woman 
of the Trolltinder, the mountain country of Scan- 
dinavia believed to be haunted by supernatural 
folk, is harder than the Lorelei. 

Two interesting exceptions to the prevailing 
softness of fairy-folk among the tales of France are 
those of Brittany, and the mountain country of 
Auvergne. Beside the savage ocean that lashes 
the Breton coast in the region of Cape Finisterr, 
life has been a bitter struggle for the peasants, a 
never-ending battle against the elements. Around 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 167 


the firesides of Brittany the folk-lorist finds stories 
more rugged than he finds in the interior of the land 
or on the shore of the Mediterranean. Beautiful 
fairies and high-souled kings move through the 
narratives, but they dispense justice with a less 
merciful hand than do those of the south. The 
giants in the tales of Brittany are more repulsive 
and terrible than those met on the Loire and Rhone. 

It is the same among the mountains of Auvergne, 
the ancient volcanic region where the ways of men 
are more primitive than in any other part of France 
and where the landscape is austere. Here, where 
great, half-obliterated ropes of lava are heaped 
along the slopes like masses of dead serpents, there 
is little that is graceful or mild about the face of 
nature. Austerity and bareness reign. In this 
section we find stories so fierce in their characters 
that they seem not to belong to France at all. 
They are more like those of Russia and Scandi- 
navia, the most savage of all European narratives. 

One might go on through many pages citing 
examples to show how truthfully racial tales reflect 
the atmosphere and natural features of lands in 
which they grew. Not only fairy tales, but myths, 
epics, and legends have undergone changes to fit 
changed conditions of life. Sigurd, the Volsung 
of the Norwegian sagas, and Siegfried, of the Ger- 
man Nibelungenlied, are the same character. The 
stories have come from the same ancient source. 
Gentleness is not the salient characteristic of Sieg- 
fried, but he is hardly as fierce a personage as Sigurd, 
his northern counterpart. In some way, during 
very remote times, the nucleus of the Sigurd tale 
was carried to Germanic regions by tribes wandering 


168 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION > 


southward. There, as centuries passed, it changed 
to fit the lives of people among less savage surround- 
ings until it became another story, with fewer harsh 
angles and ruthless deeds. 

The statement is sometimes made that the fairy 
tales of some lands are more cruel in character than 
those of others because the people are more cruel 
by nature. From the standpoint of the folk-lorist 
this statement needs to be qualified. Racial tales, 
and by this is meant all stories that have come 
down the centuries and that abound in supernatural 
happenings, reflect the conditions in which the men 
lived among whom they originated. The struggle 
and desire to overcome that which is terrifying and 
hard in life results in acquired traits that are hardy. 
The giants and fairies, as well as the human folk of 
these narratives, are fierce and cruel or kindly and 
gentle because they symbolize not original human 
nature, but human nature as modified by the country 
of those to whom the tales were both science and 
religion. | 

The cruel story of Bluebeard does not contradict 
this principle. First of all, Bluebeard is not a pure 
French fairy tale. It is a corrupted legend dating 
from the early Middle Ages, that recounts the 
bloody procedure of a lord of northern France. 
To rank it with fairy tales is as incorrect as to 
place in this list such modern fanciful yarns as 
“The Wizard of Oz” or “The Adventures of Dr. 
Doolittle.” Secondly, it is not fair to judge the 
folk-lore of any country by one, or even by half 
a dozen tales. Only by becoming familiar with the 
history of a story or group of stories, the nature of 
the region from which it sprang, and the conditions 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 169 


under which the people lived, is one qualified to 
say what it symbolizes. 

The origin and nature of myths.—Myth, like 
fairy tale, is the expression of primitive man’s 
religion. Fairy tales are largely made up of rem- 
nants of primitive nature-myth. There are nature- 
and animal-myths dating from very remote times 
that tell how the fox got its fur, the leopard its 
spots, and the cause of summer and winter, accord- 
ing to early man’s ideas. But myth as we think 
of it among the peoples of Europe, is of later origin 
than fairy tales and primitive nature-myth. It 
grew out of the life of the people after they had 
come to have definite ideas concerning religious 
things and the forces of nature. When myth 
evolved man had a fixed religious belief. When 
fairy tales were formed he was groping, wondering, 
and fearful. All was unknown. His stories por- 
tray what he vaguely imagined Omnipotence might 
be and what he desired it to be. In myth he was 
beginning to find his place in the universe and to 
have convictions as to the meaning of that universe. 

History and historical romance.—History is an 
account of what has actually happened, a record 
of events gone by. Historical romance is partly 
history and partly fiction. It is a recounting of 
something that really has happened, but into it are 
introduced imaginary incidents or characters. 
Sometimes too even the facts of historical romance 
are set in a fanciful background. Some of the 
characters that move through it have actually 
lived, but with them are associated others that are 
the creation of the author. Both in characters 
and setting, historical romance is a blending of the 


170 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


real and the imaginary. It rests on a foundation 
of truth, but many of the blocks of the structure 
are composed of fiction. 

Legend.—Legend is a form of narrative the 
facts of which are believed to be true by those among 
whom it is found, and in the main its events have 
happened. But some of them cannot be verified 
by historical record, although by those who gave 
them to the next generation they were believed to 
have occurred. Legends contain some supernatural 
element, a miracle, vision or marvelous happening. 
They are wonder tales that rest on a barely dis- 
coverable foundation of truth. The King Arthur 
of history was a crude British chieftain of the 
sixth century. There is no historic record of the 
many deeds attributed to him and his knights in 
the Arthurian cycle of romances. He was a war- 
rior who fought numerous battles. Judged by 
the standards of his day he was a valiant and 
upright man. As stories of his achievements went 
down the generations they were exaggerated, as is 
likely to happen when tales pass through many 
mouths, even though there is no intent to deceive. 
Consequently, as the homage of the tellers dwelt 
upon these exaggerated exploits, with the passing 
of a century or two he became a demigod—a man 
of miraculous power. Throughout the closing years 
of the Dark Ages and during medieval times these 
legends of King Arthur and his knights were believed 
as implicitly as ever history was believed. Yet none 
of the achievements of Percival, Launcelot or their 
associates can be verified by the chronicles of the 
time in which they are supposed to have occurred. 

Allegory, parable and fable.—In allegory, virtues 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 171 


and vices, characteristics, moods, nations, cities, 
the seasons, etc., are personified and represented 
as human beings. Truth, deceit, greed, humility, 
avarice, peace, and war, work out their problems 
as persons. By their deeds and words lessons are 
taught. During the Dark and Middle Ages alle- 
gory was a favorite form of narrative with religious 
workers, and was used to show the triumph of faith 
over heresy, of goodness over sin. Allegory is still 
much employed in religious and moral education, 
especially in the Catholic Church. It is used par- 
ticularly in pageantry where the triumph of com- 
munity spirit and progress is shown. But it is 
not a popular type of story with boys and girls 
below the adolescent period. Unless it is handled 
in a masterly way the moral is too obvious, and 
children do not take kindly to the idea of undis- 
guised moralizing. The idealism of allegory makes 
it appealing to older young people. It is therefore 
often used to advantage with those in adolescent 
years. But, generally speaking, it is of little value 
to younger folk. A nearly adult intelligence is 
necessary to grasp its symbolism. Those below 
the age of fourteen and fifteen are usually unequal 
to the task. 

Parable, like allegory, is intended to point to a 
moral or to teach a lesson. But parable differs 
from allegory in this respect: into allegory impos- 
sible characters and situations are introduced. In 
parable the characters are human beings and the 
events are such as actually occur. Christ, in his 
teaching used the parable freely, and the best idea 
of what this form of narrative is will be obtained 
by reading the parables of the New Testament. 


172 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


Fable, in its elements, is like parable. It is in- 
tended to teach a lesson, but its happenings take 
place among animals or inanimate things, stones, 
trees, the wind and sun, etc. The best examples 
of fables to which most readers have access are 
those of Aisop, although thousands of even more 
ancient origin are found floating through the folk- 
lore of the world. Those of A‘sop are partly folk- 
tale and partly creations of his own, like the stories 
of Hans Christian Andersen. In many of them 
there is a skillful blending of ancient fireside tales 
and his own imagination. The fables of La Fon- 
taine are almost entirely bits of folk-lore gathered 
from French peasants and retold in verse. Fable 
is a very pleasing from of narrative to little children, 
because, according to their ideas, all the events in 
it happened in the long ago. 

Epic.—Epic is made up of stories that have lived 
through generations as myths or legends, and have 
then been worked into a consecutive chain so as to 
form the plot of a great story. All of the achieve- 
ments or events in an epic center around some 
national hero like Charlemagne, Roland, Ogier the 
Dane, or King Arthur. Moreover, epics are in 
poetic form. For century after century the scat- 
tered tales that comprise them had been told and 
retold in camps and around firesides. Finally 
some bard or minstrel worked them into a con- 
nected plot and put them into blank verse or rime. 
Thus they have come down to us. 

An epic represents the slow gathering of a large 
number of myths, legends, and folk-tales by people 
of succeeding generations. It is grouped around 
some national hero. For instance, scattered tales 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 173 


of achievements of supermen, that in the beginning 
symbolized the sun and the various forces of nature 
and were an expression of religious belief, grad- 
ually came to be centered around King Arthur, 
Pwyll, hero of the Mabinogian, Charlemagne, 
Roland or Ogier the Dane. Then a great poet 
worked them into artistic form and gave them to 
the world as a completed drama. As one folk- 
lorist says, epic is the work of personality playing 
upon broad culture material. 

In Greece it was Homer who took the tales of his 
people in their fragmentary form and made them 
into the Jizad and the Odyssey. In France, under 
the genius of Thomas Malory, ancient recitals of 
deeds of the Round Table brotherhood became 
Le Morte d’Arthur. Almost two hundred years 
before the time of Malory, Walther von der Vogel- 
weide did the same thing in Germany. Under the 
play of his imagination these same scattered legends 
of men seeking the Holy Grail became the noble 
epic that during the Middle Ages bore the name of 
“The Knightly Song of Songs,’ and that the world 
now reveres as the story of ‘‘Parsifal.’”’ Nobody 
knows who it was who fashioned the life of the 
Cid Campeador into the Spanish epic poem that 
bears his name, or who shaped the tales of northern 
and central Europe and the British Isles into Beo- 
wulf, the Volsunga Saga, the Nibelungenlied, the 
Kalevala and the Mabinogian. But the history 
of their development is the same as that of the 
others. First, they were scattered bits of narrative 
sung and recounted by the people. Then some poet 
visioned them as a connected drama and gave them 
to the world as such. 


174 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


EDUCATIONAL USES OF THE VARIOUS TYPES 


Thus it will be seen that fairy tale, myth, legend, 
fable, parable, epic, allegory, historical romance, 
and history are very ancient types of tales. They 
represent the thought and spiritual growth of the 
race during its early stages, as well as its actual 
achievements. The developing child needs each 
of these types of tales somewhere in his course 
from birth to maturity. Roughly speaking, prim- 
itive nature myth and animal stories arouse his 
interest during the first five or six years of his life, 
because then his curiosity concerning animals is 
running high, and because in that stage of his life 
all things are possible to him. 

Fairy tales feed during the period of fancy that 
follows the baby days, the time between the ages 
of five or six and nine or ten. Epic and adventure 
stories satisfy when the boy or girl is in fancy a 
young hero or heroine in paths of mighty achieve- 
ment. Much of history and _ historical romance 
is also enjoyed in this adventure period. 

Epic, history, and historical romance are also 
food for young people in the adolescent period, 
according to the emphasis they place upon pure 
adventure or achievement of high idealism, and 
how they deal with the two sexes. This also is 
the time when allegory means most. 

Myth, unless its events are such that it makes 
an adventure story, or one that is a prototype of 
a fairy tale, and therefore of interest to younger 
children, belongs in the romantic period or age of 
adolescence. At this time, understanding of the 
religious striving of men has sufficiently developed 


a = 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 175 


in boys and girls for them to accept with sympathy 
what expresses the early man’s religious aspira- | 
tions. Even if scattered myths of Greece and 
other nations, as hero stories or fairy tales, have 
been given during an earlier age, myth as the reli- 
gion of the Greeks, Romans, and Scandinavians 
belongs in the romantic, or adolescent period. 

Legend, like history and historical romance, is 
most appealing in the heroic and in the romantic 
periods, according to the nature of its happenings. 
In all this discussion of the suitability of materials 
to meet the needs of the various age levels, pro- 
vision must be made for wide variations due to the 
influence of environment. 

Every type of tale found in the Bible.—Every 
type of narrative is to be found in the Bible. There 
are wonder stories illustrating lessons of the Hebrew 
narrators and recounting achievements that have 
all the moving appeal of fairy tales to the young 
child. There is the counterpart of myth, of fable, 
of legend, of epic, of historical romance, and there 
is history itself. There is allegory and parable. 
There is adventure as rich in happening as any 
the world has yet heard. 

The life of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, 
Joshua, David, and Solomon each makes an epic. 
So also does the life of Christ. The Bible is a 
glorious repository of epics, and, therefore, if pre- 
sented as a series of mighty dramas centering 
around the life of one of the outstanding heroes, 
it is the Book of books for boys and girls in both 
the adventure and adolescent periods, as great in 
interest and story appeal to them as in ethical and 
spiritual value. 


176 . RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


It should be the aim of whoever works with youth 
in these two periods to give them the great epics 
of the Old and New Testaments. They have had 
many of the scattered stories during the earlier 
periods, just as the race had fragmentary tales of 
the various heroes before it received them in epic 
form. Following those periods they should be 
given as a connected drama, that young people 
may behold as great personages the heroes around 
whom the fragments center, and in realizing the 
splendor and worth of these heroes, feel a desire to 
emulate them. 

In fact, if one knows the Bible well enough, it is 
possible from it alone to satisfy every story need 
of the child from infancy to manhood. But this 
can be done only by those to whom the life and 
thought of the Hebrews is as familiar as the nar- 
ratives themselves. Otherwise they cannot be given 
against the rich background that makes them satis- 
fying and complete. 

Analyzing a story to determine its place in the 
educational program.—Because of lack of knowledge 
of the Bible and Bible times and customs, many 
workers in the religious field need to glean much 
material from other sources, in order that the 
children under their care may be nourished to the 
uttermost. As has been stated elsewhere, in making 
up a program of narratives outside the Scriptures, 
it is advisable to keep largely to the old tales, those 
that have stood the test of time. But among 
modern stories there are many valuable ones to use 
in the spiritual guidance of the child. In order 
to separate the chaff from the wheat in this material 
of later origin it is necessary to know how to analyze 


OO - 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 177 


a story, both as to structure, content, and suita- 
bility for children in the various stages of develop- 
ment. It should be tested according to the follow- 
ing standards: 

Structure.—To determine whether or not a tale 
is suitable for oral telling. 

Has it a clearly defined plot? 

Do the events follow each other in a logical 
sequence? 

Does each incident carry over and add something 
to the action of the succeeding one? 

Is each incident necessary to the unwinding of 
the thread of the story? 

If not, which ones can be eliminated? 

Does the plot hold interest from beginning to end? 

«Does interest steadily and rapidly increase and 
culminate in a gripping climax? 

After the climax is reached are the characters 
ushered off the stage without delay, naturally but 
not too abruptly? 

Are the characters sufficiently lifelike that one 
becomes sympathetic toward them? 

Content.—Does the story carry a message without 
being preachy? 

Does it pulse with religious feeling? 

Does it ring true? 

Age Suitability.— What type of tale is it, realistic 
or fanciful? | 

If realistic, will its appeal be to little children, 
those in the first period of realism, or to boys and 
girls of the adventure craving years? 

If fanciful, will it satisfy children who crave 
wonder stories and fairy tales, or those in the 
romantic period, or age of adolescence? 


178 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


If, when measured by the structure test, the tale 
is found to be suitable for telling, or can be made 
suitable by the elimination of extraneous matter, 
if it carries a worth-while message and tends to 
arouse religious feeling, the narrator may safely 
include it in his program, provided its appeal is to 
children of the age he teaches. The test of age 
suitability decides that. If it is not suited to those 
of adolescent years, he who guides boys and girls 
in the adventure period should not use it. These 
younger folk may follow it with moderate interest, 
but it should not be given to them, because there 
are other narratives that will serve them better. 
It is not fair to give food which children have out- 
grown, or that which they only partially digest, 
when in the great world of stories there is sufficient 
material to nourish them to the uttermost through- 
out each stage of their development. 


THOUGHT QUESTIONS 


1. Describe what fairy tales are and what they have 
meant in the life of the race? 

2. What are myths, and how did they originate? 

3. Define legend, allegory, parable, and fable and 
tell where each can be used with value in religious 
education? 

4. Describe the development of epic, and its place 
in the education of the child. 

5. What types of stories de we find in the Bible? 

6. Explain how a story should be analyzed to 
determine its place in the educational program. 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 179 


CHAPTER IX 
SOURCES OF STORY MATERIAL 


Mucu supplementary material of great value in 
religious training is to be found outside the Bible. 
Some of this material helps to emphasize the prin- 
ciples and truths that the Bible stories demon- 
strate. Moreover, if the biblical characters are to 
be presented in a setting that makes them vivid 
and gripping, the person who tells the stories must 
be saturated with the color and atmosphere of the 
Bible. The teacher in the religious field needs to 
know much about the sources of material from 
which he can draw with benefit in his work, and to 
use this material freely. It should be his constant 
aim to learn all he can learn that will tend to make 
the people of the Old and New Testaments real 
human beings to him. They must be real to him 
before he can make them real to the children. 
Unless they are real to the children the lessons 
their lives teach will not be clearly understood or 
deeply impressed. The characters can be real to 
the narrator only when he beholds them in the 
environment in which they worked out their des- 
tinies. 


MATERIAL TENDING TO EMPHASIZE THE COLOR 
AND ATMOSPHERE OF THE BIBLE 


No matter what the age of the children with whom 
he works, the person who tells stories for the pur- 


180 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


pose of instilling religious ideals and strengthening 
religious faith needs to know something of the Holy 
Land, its various peoples, geography, and customs. 
Without this knowledge he can no more give a vivid 
impression of the characters who move through the 
tales than the writer who knows nothing of the 
range country can make a cowboy story ring with 
spontaneity and conviction. The teacher of young 
children and the teacher of adolescents each 
pictures personages who lived in Israel during 
Bible times. Therefore he needs to know about 
the country and the people in the period of which 
he tells. 

Geography of the Holy Land.—Familiarity with 
the geography of the Holy Land does not mean 
that one should know all the details of lowland and 
hill country. Because of the amount of time 
required for gaining such information it is almost 
out of the question for the average worker to amass 
such a fund of knowledge, nor is it necessary that 
he should have it. But the highlights of the geog- 
raphy of the Bible country should be very clear to 
him. He should see Palestine as it lay in the sun- 
light of Old Testament times, on one of the main 
travel routes of the ancient world. He should be 
able to glimpse its position between Egypt on the 
south and Mesopotamia on the north, and con- 
nected with those lands by caravan lines that were 
the great highways of antiquity. When a story 
of the Philistines is told there should be in the mind 
of the teller a picture of the fertile coastal plain in 
which the cities of these tribes stood. There should 
be an understanding of the location of Tyre and 
_ Sidon, Babylonia, Samaria, the land of Shinar, 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 181 


Beersheba, Bethlehem, Mount Sinai, and the val- 
leys, mountains, and deserts among which the life 
of Israel pulsed. A map will give the location of 
the places but it will not give the color and atmos- 
phere that make Palestine a real country. Some 
historical or human geography of this region should 
be studied. Some book in which the points of 
interest are not merely located on a chart, but are 
shown as the scenes of stories that have been enacted 
there. Any of the following works will be excellent 
for this purpose. 

A Historic Geography of the Holy Land—Smith 
(Doran). 

Biblical Geography and History—Kent. 

The Geography of Bible Lands—Rena L. Crosby. 

The Land of Israel—Stewart. 

Historic Geography of Bible Lands—Calkins. 

Hilltops in Galilee—Harold Speakman. 
The first-named of the above books is the more 
comprehensive, and to the student who has the time 
for detailed study it will be invaluable. Those 
who prefer a briefer work will find any of the 
others very helpful. 

The last-named work is not a historical geog- 
raphy, but it is rich in pictures of Palestine, both 
during biblical times and to-day and will greatly 
aid the story-telling in visualizing the country. 

Customs.—Beside a knowledge of the geography 
of Palestine, the story-teller in the religious field 
needs to know something of the customs and ways 
of life in Bible lands and times—how the people 
dressed, the food they ate, the industries they 
followed, and the organization of their family life. 
When he speaks of Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, 


182 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


or Levites, he should know the place of those men 
in the social order of their day. He should have a 
comprehension of the festivals and religious observ- 
ances of the ancient Hebrews, and some under- 
standing of their laws. 

Life and Literature of the Ancient Hebrews, by 
Lyman Abbott, is a graphic detailed exposition of 
the manners and customs of those days. Hebrew 
Life and Thought by Louise Seymour Houghton 
(University of Chicago Press), covers the same field 
in an equally comprehensive manner. Other books 
dealing with the manners, customs and ways of life 
of the Israelites are the following: 

Bible Manners and Customs—Mackie. 

Jewish Artisan Life in the Time of Jesus—Delitzsch. 

Jewish Social Life—Edersheim. 

Hebrew Life and Times—Hunting. 

Tales and Customs of the Ancient Hebrews—Herbst. 

Retold Bible Stories.—Some religious leaders 
maintain that whatever the teacher cannot himself 
get from the Bible is not worth his telling to children. 
This does not mean that the material is not worth 
telling, but that anything the narrator cannot 
himself glean from the book of books will be of 
little value to those to whom he gives it. Unless 
he himself can draw it from the Bible he cannot 
make it real to his hearers. It cannot be success- 
fully challenged that the storybook of whoever 
undertakes to guide the child’s spiritual training 
should be the Bible itself. But the stories should 
not be prepared entirely from the retold narratives 
as given in the lesson leaflets. For the heart and 
substance of the tale, one should go to the fountain- 
head, to the two Testaments, which are a never- 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 183 


failing source of food and inspiration. This rule 
should be the guiding one for the mother or teacher. 
The story as given in the Bible should be read 
until it is very vivid, until the teller is saturated 
with both its spirit and language. Then he will 
have a standard by which to judge of the usefulness 
of supplementary materials as well as of lesson-leaf 
versions. 

Because the tales in the lesson leaflets, and in 
some of the Bible storybooks, are prepared by 
experts, they are very helpful, and should not be 
neglected. They should be read and studied along 
with the Bible itself. From this reading and study, 
bits of color and atmosphere are sometimes gained 
‘that otherwise might be missed. It is a good thing 
to see scenes and events as others have seen them, 
and to compare or contrast those impressions with 
our own. Many shades of green make up the car- 
pet of forest and grass that covers a hillside, yet 
in seeing the blend of color the untrained observer 
may have an imperfect idea of the numerous tints 
that comprise the whole. Likewise, a person may 
miss in a word-picture details that another sees. 
Therefore, the religious worker should read as many 
good Bible story-books as possible. All of the 
following are excellent works: 

Old, Old Tales from the Old, Old Book.—Smith. 

A Child’s Life of Christ—Dearmer. 

A Child’s Guide to ihe Bible—Hodges. 

Stories from the Best of Books—Sangster and 
Yonge. 

Bible Stories to Read and Tell—Olcott. 

Christ Child Tales—Proudfoot. 

The Illustrated Bible Story Book—Loveland. 


184 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


NON-BIBLICAL MATERIAL 


There is a wealth of material outside the Bible 
that will greatly enrich the child’s spiritual life. 
Some of the more important types are: nature 
material, national and _ religious epics, and_his- 
torical—especially biographical materials. 

In the child’s thinking God is naturally identified 
with nature. Therefore religious feeling and faith 
may be aroused in him by stories of plant and animal 
life, of stars and rainbow, of winds, frost, sunshine, 
and changing seasons. Especially is this true of 
the little child, who feels himself akin to the animal 
and plant. Nature stories tend to arouse his 
emotions. They put him into moods that are 
religious. There was a time when all the religion of 
the world was expressed in nature myth, in crude 
“why” stories that grew out of the wonder, hope 
and fear of primitive man. Science began in 
fiction. Man’s imagining about nature was his 
primitive way of seeking the truth. Throughout 
its long march from barbarism, the race has been 
nurtured by nature-stories. They have gone hand 
in hand with religion. They should go hand in 
hand with the religious education of the child. 
The worker in the Sunday school, as well as the 
mother in the home, needs to be equipped with a 
fund of nature material. . 

Primitive nature stories.—The nature stories 
told to young children should be of two kinds, 
primitive and modern. In the primitive group are 
animal stories and nature myths. These are tales 
that portray early man’s imagining about the 
beasts that were part of his world and those that 
gave his ideas about the creation, and the forces 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 185 


concealed within the wind, sunshine, lightning, and 
all else that he did not understand. Tales of this 
type should not be told as true stories, but as what 
people long ago believed before they came to know 
the facts. Given in this way, these primitive 
narratives are still religious stories to the child. 
Instead of lessening his faith in the Jehovah of the 
Israelites they tend to strengthen it. They give 
him a conception of the handicap of the race when 
it was groping and afraid. Through such stories 
comes an added sense of security in the Great 
Father whom the child himself serves, and who has 
revealed the truth to him. Wisely presented, 
these are of great value in religious education. 
Religious moods are awakened in the child as he 
sees folk of far away and long ago groping in dark- 
ness, seeking God, living in perpetual fear because 
they have not found him. Tales that embody 
primitive beliefs as to how the world was made, 
why the bear has a short tail, how the leopard got 
its spots, why the rattlesnake bites, and kindred 
primitive “Why” stories increase the feeling of 
kinship between the child and nature and make 
him count himself fortunate in knowing the God 
who created all things. 

The following books are sources of this material: 

Nature Myths and Stories for Little Children— 
Cooke. 

Round the Year in Myth and Song—Holbrook. 

Book of Nature Myths—Holbrook. 

In Mythland—Beckwith. 

Birds in Legend, Fable and Folk Lore—Ingersoll. 

Our Wonderful World—Howe. 

Modern nature material.—Along with the primi- 


186 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


tive nature stories should be used many modern 
ones, true accounts of animals and plants, of tides, 
stars, trees, cliffs, and changing seasons, and numer- 
ous other bits of narrative from the great book of 
science. Arthur Thompson’s Outline of Science, 
which is in the field of science what Wells’ Outline 
of History is in the field of history, is perhaps the 
best foundation book for the worker who has not 
time for specialized study. Collections of science 
and nature stories intended for children, but which 
will be helpful to the teacher whose hours of prepa- 
ration are limited, are the following: 

Some Useful Animals and What They Do For 
Us—Monteith. ; 

\First and Second Science Readers—Nelson. 

Children’s Book of Stars—Milton. 

The Earth and Sky—Holden. 

A Hermit’s Wild Friends—Walton. 

Animal Secrets Told—Brearley. 

The Friendly Stars—Martin. 

Nature’s Garden (Wild Flowers)—Blanchan. 

Knowing Birds Through Stories—Brailliar. 

Some good elementary biology will also help to 
equip the story-teller for his work in giving nature 
material to children. Excellent works for this pur- 
pose are: 

Elementary Biology—Jordan and Jenkins. 

The Biology of Man and Other Organisms—Lin- 
ville. 

Heathen and Christian Epics.—In the age when 
the child craves adventure tales the great epics 
of the world should be drawn from to supplement 
the Bible stories. Rightly presented, these are 
religious stories to boys and girls of from ten to 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 187 


sixteen, exactly as primitive nature myths are 
religious stories to young children, because they 
are redolent of the religious beliefs of the peoples 
among whom they emerged. At the same time 
children are hearing about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, 
Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Daniel and David they 
should make the acquaintance of Beowulf, Sieg- 
fried, Sigurd, and the various other heroes of the 
epics. They should meet these men first in scattered 
adventure stories, then as heroes of connected 
dramas that show a people against a background 
of religious belief, struggling through the aid of that 
religion to overcome obstacles and move toward 
a higher life. 

The heathen epics.—The epics that grew among 
heathen nations, the ones that are crude and bar- 
baric in their elements, such as Beowulf, the Kale- 
vala, and the Scandinavian sagas are especially 
appealing to children between the ages of ten and 
fourteen. These stories, when told after the Bible 
narratives have been heard, and*contrasted with 
those of the people whose guide was Jehovah- 
jirah, serve to intensify the comfort of Christianity 
and the insecurity that marked the lives of those 
who worshiped Beltane, Jove, or Odin. 

The following books are among the best of those 
dealing with the Heathen epics: 

The Younger Edda—Anderson. 

Sigurd the Volsung—Morris. 

Norse Stories from the Eddas—Mabie. 

Siegfried and Beowulf—Ragozin. 

The Christian epics.—In sharp contrast to the 
heathen epics and highly valuable in religious 
training are those that were formed in the several 
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peagoay OCKTON ST. 

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188 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


European lands after the people became Christian- 
ized. ‘These are made up of stories of King Arthur 
and the Round Table Knights, Titurel, Parsifal, and 
others who contended in the high cause of Chris- 
tianity. The King Arthur stories, and that of 
Parsifal are ideal for use in religious work, because 
they center around the legend of the Holy Grail. 
During the Dark and Middle ages, the Grail symbo- 
lized all that was best in Christianity. They 
should be presented as the heathen epics are, or as 
the biblical ones: first as scattered adventure tales 
in the period when such narratives are craved; 
later, during the earlier years of adolescence, they 
should be given in complete form, so that the char- 
acters are seen as heroes of a great drama and an 
idea is obtained of the spiritual struggles of the 
people who gave them to the world. 

Retold epical stories.—In preparing material from 
the epics, as from the Bible, the best way is to go 
to the fountain head, to the epical poems and 
dramas that are’ sources of the narratives as the 
world knows them. But the average story-teller 
has neither the time for this nor access to the ver- 
sions. Therefore, in most cases, it will be neces- 
sary to use some retold rendering of the ancient 
tales. 

Books dealing with the Christian epics in a 
manner that the narrator will find well suited to his 
use are the following: 

The Boys’ King Arithur—Lanier. ' 

Stories of King Arthur and His Knights—Pyle. 

King Arthur and His Noble Knights—Macleod. 

The Story of Parsival, Mary Sterling Blackwell. 

The Story of Sir Galahad—Sterling. 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 189 


Although the books mentioned that deal with 
the story of King Arthur and Parsifal are on the 
whole excellent for the story-teller’s use, they do 
not give enough of the Grail legend for young 
people to obtain an understanding of the medieval 
belief concerning it. The story of how the Holy 
Grail came to be in the world, and why it disap- 
peared is as follows: 

In the crown which sixty angels tendered Lucifer 
while he was one of the celestials there were unnum- 
bered marvelous jewels. When he was cast out of 
heaven one of these fell upon the earth, and from it 
was carved an exquisitely lovely vessel. For ages 
upon ages this vessel was somewhere in the world. 
Finally it came into the hands of Joseph of 
Arimathea. He gave it to Jesus, and the Master 
used it during the Last Supper. On the day of the 
crucifixion, Joseph caught a few drops of blood as 
it flowed from the Saviour’s side. This, the legend 
declares, endowed the vessel with marvelous powers. 
Whoever looked upon it, even though he were sick, 
would never die. Neither would anyone who beheld 
it ever grow old or be unfortunate or unhappy. 

But after a while the world came to be so wicked 
that the Holy Grail disappeared, and nobody had 
any idea where it had gone. Then, in the time 
when good King Arthur ruled at Camelot, a story 
spread among men that if any one were without 
sin he might obtain the miraculous cup. 

Around this belief of the power of the Grail and 
the possibility of regaining it by one without sin 
center two of the noblest epics the world knows, 
that of King Arthur and of Titurel and his 
descendant, Parsifal. Both of these epics are 


190 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


magnificent spiritual food for adolescent boys and 
girls. The symbolism of the Grail makes a deep 
appeal during the years of idealism. An under- 
standing of how belief in it fired men to high deeds 
is a wholesome influence in any life. 

The best retold version of Parsifal in English is 
Anna Alice Chapin’s Story of Parsifal. Guerber’s 
Stories of the Wagner Operas also gives a clear and 
excellent rendering of this legend. 

Guerber’s Legends of the Middle Ages (chapter 
headed “Titurel and the Holy Grail”), also gives 
facts in the tale. 

Other material that grew out of the Christian 
epics are the stories of Saint George and the Dragon, 
and those of Roland, Bayard, Ogier the Dane, and 
other picturesque characters of the time of Charle- 
magne and the centuries succeeding him. Books 
dealing with these narratives are: 

Seven Champions of Christendom—(St. George 
and the Dragon)—Matthews. 

Page, Esquire, and Knight (Roland, Bayard, 
Round Table Knights, etc.)—Lansing. 

Pilgrim’s Progress, Paradise Lost, and Jerusalem 
Delivered.—A book of books for use in religious 
training is Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. At least 
enough of this story should be told to whet the 
appetite of young people for the rest of it, so they 
will read it themselves. The narrator who knows 
Milton’s Paradise Lost and Tasso’s Jerusalem 
Delivered well enough to recount them to boys and 
girls in the adolescent years is fortunate. Both are 
highly appealing and valuable during this period. 
Jerusalem Delivered should be given before the 
masterpiece of Milton, because it is a great 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 191 


adventure story, yet teeming with idealism. It is 
understood and enjoyed a little earlier than is 
Paradise Lost. 

Historical material.—History offers rich material 
to the story-teller in the religious field who deals 
with hero-worshiping boys and _ girls—especially 
that part covering the crusades. Many of those 
who fared to Palestine were not all they should 
have been, and much crime and lawlessness were 
perpetrated by them in the name of Christianity. 
But, on the other hand, there was a splendid 
company of godly men among them, and these 
stand as towering examples of all that is fine and 
heroic. Godfrey of Bouillon, Tancred, and other 
of the high-souled crusaders should be well known 
characters to the young. Boys and girls should 
understand the fervent religious spirit out of which 
the crusades grew. It is a fine influence in their 
lives to realize that there was a time in the history 
of the world when the thought of men was focused 
more upon religious things than on anything else. 
The best emotions in these young folk of adoles- 
cent years quicken at the thought of the spirit of 
devotion and sacrifice that led the rich to give their 
treasured possessions, jewels, gold, and lands, and 
the poor their few precious coins, sometimes even 
the clothing from their backs, in order to finance 
expeditions undertaken for the purpose of rescuing 
the tomb of Jesus from those who had defiled it. 

The Christian martyrs and the heroes of the 
early Christian Church.—During the adolescent 
years, young people should also learn something 
of the heroes of the early Christian Church, the 
men and women who struggled to keep the faith of 


192 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


Jesus alive in the world. Hurst’s History of the 
Christian Church contains much interesting and 
inspirational material. 

Great Men of the Christian Church—Walker. 

The Hebrew Prophets—Champerlin. 

Lhe Women of Israel—Grace Aguilar. 

Women of the Bible—Henry van Dyke, Lyman 
Abbot, and others. 

Heroines of History—Bristol. 

Outlines of the Life of Christ—Sanday. 

St. Paul the Man and His Work—Taylor. 

St. Paul the Traveler and Roman Citizen—Ramsey. 

Great Characters of the Old Testament—Rogers. 

Great Characters of the New Testament—Hayes. 

The story of Joan of Arc, who through faith in 
God and her “‘voices’? was able to accomplish what 
all the mailed knights of France had failed to do, 
is also of great spiritual value in the adolescent 
period. Of all books in the English language 
dealing with the life of Joan of Arc none more 
graphically and beautifully ‘stresses the religious 
fervor and patriotism of this peasant girl than does 
that by Mark Twain. It should be read by every 
one who expects to tell the story of the pucelle of 
Domremy who saved France. Another beautiful 
rendering of the story of Joan of Arc, but far simpler 
than that of Mark Twain, is the one by Boutet de 
Monvel. This is especially valuable because of its 
superb illustrations. 

A very valuable book for this period of youth, 
because of its reverent rendering of the many 
legends of Jesus that are still told in the East, is 
Christ Legends, by Selma Lagerlof. 

Out of the material suggested, the Bible itself 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 193 


and the various works containing material that has 
a place in the spiritual development of the child, the 
story-teller in the religious field can fashion threads 
of plot and fancy around which the emotions of 
boys and girls have free play. This play of whole- 
some emotion will help them as they ripen into 
richer and more abundant religious life. The 
preparation necessary to give the material so that 
it will quicken to the limit of its possibilities the 
emotional nature of young people and result in 
worthy action entails hours of reading, and perhaps 
some sacrifice. But the reward is great. Just 
as there is no royal road to learning, so there is no 
easy road to Christian character-building. But 
the satisfaction that comes with the realization that 
one is helping to steep souls in reverence and 
strengthen them in faith, makes all the labor 
abundantly worth while.. 


THOUGHT QUESTIONS 


1. Why is it necessary for the religious teacher to 
know something of the Holy Land, its geography, 
people, and customs? 

2. What general knowledge of the geography of 
Palestine should the Sunday-school teacher have? 
of its people and customs? 

3. What is meant by primitive and modern nature 
material, and why should the religious teacher 
be familiar with both? 

4. How can the heathen epics be used with profit 
in religious education? 

5. Name some great Christian epics that should 
be used in religious training. 


194 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


6. Explain the value of historical material in reli- 
gious education. 

7. Name some historical characters that should be 
introduced in religious work with childrenin the 
adventure-loving period; during adolescent years. 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 195 


CHAPTER X 


THE USE OF PICTURES IN STORY-TELLING 


REFERENCE has already been made to the value 
of using pictures in connection with the stories 
they portray. Pictures help children to see and to 
understand what they have not seen or may not 
see in the tale to which they listen. They help 
to vivify what has been seen, and to heighten 
interest in the same. They deepen the impressions 
made. The story of the coming of the Wise Men 
of the East to Bethlehem with gifts for the infant 
Jesus is a tale which little children love. If, after 
they have heard it, they see a copy of Rubens’ 
‘Adoration of the Magi,” or any other of the great 
paintings that portray that event, their delight in 
the story is twofold. 

Pictures stimulate feeling, thought and impulse. 
The child who has seen the ‘Adoration of the Magi’”’ 
portrayed by the brush of an artist will not’ only 
feel more deeply the story of the Magi than he would 
feel without it, but he will think more concerning it. 
Impulses similar to those of the Magi will also be 
stirred. The picture illuminates the story to him 
and causes it to touch more potently his inner life. 


THE USE OF PICTURES IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


The leaders of the early Christian Church under- 
stood this fact and used art freely to help them 
in their work. Until the beginning of modern 


196 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


times, the brush of the painter and the chisel of 
the sculptor figured largely as aids in religious 
work. ‘Titian, Raphael, Tintoretto, Leonardo da 
Vinci, and the other old masters devoted their 
genius in the main to embellishing churches, to 
coloring canvases and frescoes with biblical subjects 
and Madonnas, and to carving out statues of 
biblical characters. They devoted their genius to 
this work because the church leaders knew that 
religious pictures and statues have an emotional 
appeal. Such masterpieces put those who behold 
them into a receptive mood toward religious themes. 
They simplified the task of the priests. Artists 
were paid to paint Madonnas and portray biblical 
stories, and they gave the best of their genius to it. 
This kind of work returned them a livelihood, but, 
being on the whole devout Catholics, it brought 
them the satisfaction of making contributions to the 
church and its work. 

Great store of religious pictures.— Because of this 
fact, the story-teller in the religious field has a 
great wealth of art treasures from which to draw 
in illuminating his tales, in making them enjoyable 
to his auditors, and in impressing truth deeply. 
For the kindergarten tot, the child with his vigorous 
imagination, the adventure-loving boy and girl, and 
the aspiring adolescent there are pictures almost 
without number. 

Cheap reproductions of masterpieces.—Cheap 
prints of masterpieces are now within the reach of 
every one. There are several houses engaged in 
making penny, five- and ten-cent small prints, as 
well as larger and comparatively low-priced ones 
for framing. No child needs to be without the 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 197 


knowledge, joy, and enriched spiritual life that 
comes of stories visualized through the aid of 
pictures. 

The appeal of pictures in different periods.— 
Every great work of art has a meaning for adults, 
no matter what subject it portrays. In using 
pictures to supplement story-telling, it will be found 
that often a painting that delights little people 
awakens interest and feeling among adolescents 
also. There is no sharply drawn line of division in 
classifying pictures according to age levels of expe- 
rience. Some can be used with value no matter 
what the age of those with whom one works. More- 
over, a picture once understood and enjoyed is 
hever outgrown. 

Every picture, however, when seen for the firsi 
time, during the period of development in which 
there is spontaneous interest in the truth which it 
represents, makes a particularly deep impression. 
When first seen, a painting that portrays a miracle 
means more in the young wonder-loving child than 
in the later time when adventure tales are most 
desired. Likewise a canvas depicting the Queen 
of Sheba has a deeper meaning during the years of 
adolescence than in the time when a child wants 
fairy tales, although the latter thinks it is a very 
pretty lady. The same rules that hold in the choice 
of story material for the various age periods apply 
also in the selection of pictures. Art interest is 
wider in range than story interest, however. Long 
after boys and girls have ceased to enjoy the tale 
of Moses in the rushes, they take pleasure in looking 
at a picture that portrays the finding of the babe 
by the daughter of Pharaoh. 


198 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


A painting of the Transfiguration is deeply 
appealing to a pupil in the primary department. 
It has an equally deep appeal during the years of 
adolescence, although by young people of this age 
it is differently interpreted than by folk of seven 
and eight. The teacher or mother needs to apply 
the principles of story interests in her selection of 
pictures, in order that she may present the great 
religious art works of the world at the time they 
mean most, at the time when they will arouse the 
deepest emotions and noblest impulses. The ap- 
pended lists are made out with this thought in 
mind. Some of the pictures recommended for the 
early years of childhood are suitable also for use 
during the period of adolescence. If, however, 
there is any doubt in the narrator’s mind about 
interchanging them, the lists as given can be de- 
pended on for pictures of deepest significance during 
the several specific periods indicated. 


PICTURES TO Use WirH STORIES IN THE EARLY 
YEARS OF CHILDHOOD 


Adam and Eve—Direr. 

Adoration of the Magi—Rubens. 

The Finding of Moses—Claude Lorrain. 
Holy Family—Mutrillo. 

The Marriage of the Virgin—Raphael. 
The Flight into Egypt—Van Dyke. 
The Nativity—Hofmann. 

The Arrival of the Shepherds—Lerolle 
The Sistine Madonna—Raphael. 
Madonna of the Chair—Raphael. 
Holy Night—Correggio. 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 199 


The Angelus—Millet. 

The Shepherdess—Lerolle. 

Holy Family—Raphael. 

Adoration of the Magi—Velazquez. 

A Little Child Shall Lead Them—Hofmann. 

The Infant Samuel—Sir Joshua Reynolds. 

Adoration of the Shepherds—Rembrandt. 

Adoration of the Magi—Paolo Veronese. 

Abraham Receiving the News of Isaac’s Birth— 
Genelli. 

The Good Shepherd—Plockhorst. 

The Divine Shepherd—Murillo. 

Christ Blessing Little Children—Plockhorst. 

Head of the Boy Christ (detail) —Hofmann. 

The Raising of Lazarus—Sebastino de Piombo. 

The Banishment from Paradise (fresco)—Raphael. 

Noah Building the Ark (fresco)—Raphael. 

The Finding of Moses—Raphael. 

The Lost Sheep—Soord. 


NATURE PICTURES FOR YOUNG CHILDREN 


Brittany Sheep—Bonheur. 
Shepherd of the Pyrenees—Bonheur. 
The Sheepfold—Jacque. 

Feeding the Hens—Millet. 

Red Deer of Chillingham—Landseer. 
Can’t You Talk?—Holmes. 

Milking Time—Dupre. 

Lions at Home—Bonheur. 

Song of the Lark—Breton. 

The Horse Fair—Bonheur. 

Coming From the Fair—Bonheur. 
Monarch of the Glen—Landseer. 


200 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


IN THE PRIMARY DEPARTMENT 


Easter Morning—Plockhorst. 

The First Easter Dawn—Thomson. 

Christ Healing the Sick—Schraudolph. 

The Miraculous Draught of Fishes—Schraudolph. 

Gathering Manna—Dierick Bouts. 

Pharaoh’s Destruction in the Red Sea—Roselli. 

Abraham and the Three Angels (fresco)—Raphael. 

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dream (fresco)— 
Raphael. 

Moses at the Burning Bush (fresco)—Raphael. 

Destruction of Pharaoh in the Red Sea (fresco) — 
Raphael. 

Moses Strikes the Rock for Water (fresco)— 
Raphael. 

The Israelites Crossing the Jordan (fresco)— 
Raphael. 

The Widow’s Son Raised—Von de Brozik. 


IN THE JUNIOR PERIOD 


Saint Michael and the Dragon—Guido Reni. 

Saint Anthony of Padua—Murillo. 

By the Waters of Babylon—Bendeman. 

Saul (sculpture)—Michael Angelo. 

David (sculpture)—Michael Angelo. 

The Story of Joseph (series of frescoes)—Julio 
Romano. 

The Story of Solomon (frescoes)—Pellafrina da 
Modena. 

Saint Jerome and the Lion (sculpture)—Piquer. 

Abraham and Melchizedeck—Dierick Bouts. 

Isaac Blessing Jacob—Van den Eckhout. 

David and Goliath—Nicholas Poussin. 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 201 


Christ Expelling the Money Changers—Dossa 
Dossi. 

Mourning Over the Body of Moses—Luca Signo- 
relli. 

Abraham and Melchizedek (fresco) — Raphael. 

Lot’s Flight from Sodom (fresco)—Raphael. 

Jacob on His Journey (fresco)—Raphael. 

Joseph Relating His Dream to His Brothers 
(fresco) —Raphael. 

Joseph is Sold (fresco)—Raphael. 

Joseph Interprets Pharoah’s Dream (fresco)— 
Raphael. 

Joshua and Eleazer (fresco)—Raphael. 

Dividing Israel Among the Twelve Tribes (fresco) 
—Raphael. 

Samuel Anoints David (fresco)—Raphael. 

David and Goliath (fresco)—Raphael. 


IN THE PERIOD OF ADOLESCENCE 


Esther Before Ahasuerus—H. Baugkmair. 

St. Peter and St. John—Diirer. 

St. John in Patmos—Baugkmair. 

Simeon and Lazarus—Direr. 

Jesus Teaching in the Temple—Van den Eckhout. 

The Entombment—Rembrandt. 

The Resurrection—Rembrandt. 

The Ascension—Rembrandt. 

Moses with Aaron and the two Prophets— 
Cranach the Elder. 

St. Peter and St. Paul—Rubens. 

Christ and the Penitents—Rubens. 

St. Cecilia—Raphael. 

Christ and the Magdalen—Correggio. 


202 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


Christ Disputing With the Doctors—Paolo 
Veronese. 

Jesus and the Centurion of Capernaum—Paolo 
Veronese. 

John the Baptist—Memling. 

St. Barbara—Palma Vecchio. 

The Last Communion of St. Jerome—Domen- 
ichino. 

The Transfiguration—Raphael. 

Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem—Plockhorst. 

The Last Supper—Leonardo da Vinci. 

Christ in Gethsemane—Hofmann. 

Christ Before Pilate—Munkacsy. 

Descent from the Cross—Rubens. 

The Holy Women at the Tomb—Plockhorst. 

Peter and John Running to the Sepulcher— 
Burnard. 

Christ With Martha and Mary—Le Sueur. 

Marriage at Cana—Rottenhammer. 

Christ and the Woman of Samaria—Kauffmauch. 

Jairus’ Daughter—Von Keller. 

St. Jerome in the Desert—Cosima Tura. 

Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalen After His 
Resurresction—Titian. 

Samson and Delilah—Andrea Mantegna. 

Mary Magdalen Laying Aside Her Jewels— 
Paolo Veronese. 

Christ Presented by Pilate to the People— 
Correggio. 

Isaac and Rebecca—Claude Lorraine. 

Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba—Lorraine. 

Moses Receiving the Law on Mt. Sinai—Cosimo 
Roselli. 

Worship of the Golden Calf—Cosimo Roselli. 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 203 


Christ’s Temptation—Botticelli. 
Vocation of Peter and Andrew—Ghirlandajo. 
Sermon on the Mount—Roselli. 
Christ Giving the Keys to Peter—Perugino. 
The Last Supper—Roselli. 
Frescoes of the Prophets—Michael Angelo. 
Jeremiah. 
Ezekiel. 
Joel. 
Zacharias. 
Isaiah. 
Daniel. 
Jonah. 
Jacob and Rachel at the Well (fresco)—-Raphael. 
Moses Receiving the Tables of the Law (fresco)— 
Raphael. 
The Adoration of the Golden Calf (fresco)— 
Raphael. 
Moses Breaks the Tables (fresco)—Raphael. 
The Queen of Sheba (fresco)—Raphael. 
Christ (sculpture)—Michael Angelo. 
Vision of Ezekiel—Raphael. 
The Light of the World—Holman Hunt. 
Jephtha—Sir John Millais. 
Christ the Consoler—Limmerman. 


SOURCES OF INEXPENSIVE REPRODUCTIONS 


The Brown Pictures, Milton Bradley Co., Spring- 
field, Mass. 

Maison Braun et Cie, New York. 

The Perry Pictures, Malden, Mass. 

The Prang Co., New York. 

The University Prints, Boston. 


204 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


Emery Prints, Brown-Robertson Co., 7 W. 47 


St., New York. 


Cosmos Picture Co., New York City. 
Manz Engraving Co., Chicago. 
Scharf Bros., Chicago. 

A. W. Elson & Co., Boston. 


THOUGHT QUESTIONS 


1. Explain the value of using pictures with stories. 


NS 


Oo 


Se 


- Why were the old masters so much encouraged 


and employed by the church? 


. How is it possible to use the pictures of Raphael, 


Leonardo, etc., in working with children who 
are far from the great art galleries? 


. In what period does a picture that portrays a 


miracle make its greatest appeal? One whose 
characters are animals, children, or mothers? 


. What principles should be applied in the selection 


of pictures to be used in the various age periods? 
Name five pictures that, illustrate Bible stories 
appealing to children of kindergarten age; five 
illustrating stories appealing to the imagination? 


- Name five pictures illustrating stories that appeal 


to those in the age of hero-worship; ten that illus- 
trate stories appealing to those of adolescent 
years. 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 205 


CHAPTER XI 
THE STORY-TELLER HERSELF 


No matter how thorough and complete the 
technical preparation for story-telling in the field 
of religious education may be, the final result de- 
pends upon the story-teller herself. Knowledge 
of the most suitable material and skill in presenting 
it mean so much that without them there can be no 
marked success. But these alone do not insure 
success, any more than a knowledge of legal pro- 
cedure and a ready flow of language insure dis- 
tinction as a lawyer. It is the story-teller herself 
that counts—the personality behind the narration. 
It is this animated expressive personality that 
occasions an awakened God-consciousness and desire 
for high endeavor on the part of those who hear 
the tales. 

The extent of the influence of the story-teller is 
determined especially by three things—her atti- 
tude toward the particular situation, her native 
equipment, and her personal ideals. These are 
what make her work alive and vital, and the absence 
of which renders it mechanical and unnatural. 
They are what make it an influence for time and 
eternity, or, lacking them, a bit of entertainment 
that will neither arouse deep feeling not kindle 
after-thought. Upon her personal bearing, her 
original equipment and her ideals, particularly 
is based her claim to the exalted name of artist— 


206 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


one who strives to bear to mankind a message he 
believes it will benefit the world to hear, and who 
labors devotedly to make himself master of the 
medium through which the message is to be trans- 
mitted. 


THE StoryY-TELLER’S ATTITUDE 


By the story-teller’s attitude is meant her bearing 
toward the work she is attempting to do. Does she 
respect it? Does she regard it as of great impor- 
tance in the plan of religious education? Does she 
believe that through the medium of story-telling 
she may achieve results difficult or impossible of 
realization without it? Unless she has a regard for 
the dignity and importance of story-telling that 
amounts almost to reverence she cannot be depended 
upon to achieve the best results. The artist who 
moves multitudes by his picture, statue, or sonata, 
is one who believes that music, painting, or sculp- 
ture are great and noble arts, and that only he who 
labors with devotion, and even great sacrifice, is 
worthy of being a toiler in its ranks. 

The story-teller, like the artist, must believe the 
spoken tale to be a medium through which she can 
.touch all that is best in the heart and mind of the 
child. Her work must be marked by enthusiasm, 
sincerity, and belief, or it will carry no conviction. 
Regardless of what mastery of language and prin- 
ciples of structure she may have, or what her prep- 
aration may have been, without these three es- 
sential qualifications—sincerity, enthusiasm, and 
conviction—she will be as a sounding brass and a 
tinkling cymbal. 

Attitude toward the children.—The story-teller’s 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 207 


attitude toward the children is what first of all 
determines her fitness for the work. In order to 
be a true educator of children it is necessary not 
only to have knowledge of the needs of children, 
but to have intelligent sympathy for them. It is 
necessary to be able to enjoy good times with 
children, to laugh with them, to sorrow with them, 
to listen with interest to a recital of their pleasures 
and difficulties. It is necessary to be sufficiently 
young in spirit that one’s own childhood is not 
a remote distance away. Decades may have gone 
between that time and the present, but in recol- 
lection the period of dolls and toy-wagons must be 
just around the corner. It must be close enough 
to the here and now that the lights and shadows 
of the vanished yesterdays are keen and vivid. In 
other words, though having never wholly out- 
lived the memories of one’s own childhood, one 
must be able to understand the feelings of children. 
One must realize how much the disappointments 
and hopes of childhood mean, if one is to be sym- 
pathetic, intelligently, with children. 

Floyd Dell rendered a distinct service to Amer- 
ican children several years ago when he wrote his 
little book entitled Were Vou Ever a Child? By 
expressing some fundamental truths in a style 
that is appealing to those who might never read a 
psychological work, he brought a realization to 
hundreds of adults of what the sorrows, the dis- 
appointments, the hopes and enthusiasms of child- 
hood mean. The griefs of children, the distress 
over a broken doll, a lost dog, or a promise that is 
not realized, are just as keen as the sharpest griefs 
of adults. The feeling of ecstasy that comes with 


208 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


the realization of some fondly cherished dream is 
almost as tremendous as any rapture mature years 
can know. Both the pleasures and sorrows of 
children are too great to be kept by them alone. 
They want to share both with some one who under- 
stands and feels with them. 

Children are quick to sense sympathetic under- 
standing, or the lack of it, in their parents and 
teachers. They comment on it in ways which many 
adults do not realize. They measure their parents 
according to other parents and contrast their teachers 
with the teachers of their playmates. A ten-year 
old boy who had been promoted to a higher grade 
was overheard delineating the new teacher to 
another boy in the following fashion: “Sour, that’s 
her name. Just hates kids. You can make Miss 
Shelton laugh, but not her. She don’t know how. 
She’s terrible old, though,” he added, tolerantly, 
“about seventy-six. I guess that’s what’s the 
matter. She’s so old she’s forgot she used to be a 
kid.” . 

Except in the years of the teacher the boy was 
right. She was not fond of children and disliked 
teaching. She was about the same age as Miss 
Shelton, her popular colleague. In fact, she was 
a little younger, about thirty-nine. But Miss 
Shelton was full of enthusiasm for her work. She 
loved children and delighted in being identified 
with childhood. The boys and girls lost sight of 
her gray hairs, because, no matter what difficulty 
or problem they brought to her, she gave them 
sympathetic understanding and help. She had 
their confidence to such a degree that she could 
influence them away from some unwise or wrong 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 209 


intention. They felt that she liked them and under- 
stood what they really wanted to do. > 

It is important that the story-teller believe in 
story-telling as an art that has swayed the impulses 
and purposes of men down the ages, and appreciate 
its value as an influence in character-building. 
There should also be sincerity of purpose—an 
earnest desire to set the feet of boys and girls in the 
paths of righteousness—in other words, the spirit 
of service. But both of these traits are inadequate 
if intelligent sympathy is lacking. 

Attitude toward material.—The story-teller must 
respect the material she uses. She must regard 
it, not just as a means of entertainment, but as a 
wholesome, constructive force. She must believe 
in its message. The Bible stories and all the other 
tales she uses must seem to her to be what they 
really are—truth expressed in concrete form. With- 
out this belief on the part of the narrator toward 
the tales she gives, the children will detect that 
something is wrong. If, among the stories desig- 
nated to be told to her group there is one that, after 
careful study, she cannot give with sincerity, she 
should omit that tale. Never, under any circum- 
stances should she give a narrative that is at vari- 
ance with her own code of conduct or belief. To 
do so is to have the children feel, ‘“That is what 
you say, but it is not what you believe.” To have 
this happen is to lose a measure of their confidence, 
and to diminish the story-teller’s influence over 
them in the future. 

In a word, the attitude of the true narrator to- 
ward her material is the attitude of the artist. 
She reveres it as the medium through which she 


210 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


can give a message. To her it is a picture, the 
presentation of which will inspire to worthy deeds 
and make possible the abundant life. 


THE PERSONAL FACTOR 


The people who, upon casual acquaintance, 
impress us as being of the most force and. character 
are those who are vividly alive, who have abounding 
energy. We may like the dreamy, silent individ- 
uals, or the phlegmatic, slow-moving ones, but 
they have not the power to influence our actions 
as the alert, positive persons have. We are more 
likely to be persuaded by individuals of the keen, 
alert, vivid type than by those who seem inert, 
indifferent, and passive. We associate the active, 
lively, enthusiastic ones with thoughts of success. 

Frequently we hear that a man fails in some 
undertaking because of his personality. He is 
unsuccessful. He fails to bring about in others 
the action he desires, whether that action is the 
purchasing of an article, the investing in some 
enterprise, the contribution to a charitable or 
benevolent purpose, or the active approval of his 
own performance manifested in applause. A pas- 
sive, noncompelling personality seems to suggest 
an absence of conviction. He lacks contagion and 
suggestiveness. Therefore he fails in the reali- 
zation of his aim. | 

Many a story-teller has failed because of the 
personal factor. An unconvincing, colorless per- 
sonality is just as disastrous to the narrator as to 
a salesman or orator; a forceful, vigorous, radiant 
one is an important aid to success. This would be 
discouraging to many students were it not for the 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 211 


fact that what seems a negative personality to 
children can be transformed into a positive one. 
This change does not require an arduous course of 
training. It requires analysis to determine what 
makes a personality colorless or compelling. And 
after analysis it requires close personal observation 
and eternal vigilance to uproot deep-seated habits 
and to form new ones. The will to self-improvement 
is needed. | 

Enthusiasm characterizes vivid personalities.— 
To a large degree it is enthusiasm that differentiates 
the keenly alive, forceful individual from the slug- 
gish, inactive one—enthusiasm for pleasure, for 
achievement, for people, for all that makes up the 
essence of life. Enthusiasm is joyous energy, radi- 
ating from one possessing abundant belief in one- 
self and in the worth of what one is doing. 

The foundation of enthusiasm and energy is good 
health. Therefore, whoever aspires to engage in 
the work of the narrator should be watchful of her 
physical well-being. Even at the sacrifice of much 
pleasure she should secure plenty of sleep. Holding 
an audience in the hollow of one’s hand during the 
recounting of a tale, watching the moods. and 
response of the hearers and working in harmony 
with them, and at the same time keeping a succession 
of pictures in the mind, is a nervous strain. In 
order that one may undergo this strain regularly 
it is necessary to get enough rest to make buoyant 
enthusiasm possible. Good health, then, is the 
corner stone on which to build a vivid and colorful 
personality. 

Enthusiasm versus whole-heartedness.—To_ put 
enthusiasm into story-telling means to tell stories 


212 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


in a whole-hearted manner. This one expression, 
“‘whole-hearted,’”’ should be the slogan of every 
narrator. Whole-hearted presentation brings whole- 
hearted response. If children sense the fact that 
the story-teller is having a good time while she 
gives a tale, that she enjoys telling it, their pleasure 
will be the greater. If they do not sense delight 
on the part of the narrator, they will not give them- 
selves whole-heartedly to the listening. 

Whole-hearted story-telling is never colorless and 
unconvincing. Therefore the guiding precept of 
every student should be, Put your whole self into the 
telling. ‘Those who observe this rule will not be 
drab personalities to the children who hear them. 
They will be met with eager anticipation. 

It is imperative that the story-teller be regarded 
as a vitally alive, joyous person if her effort is to 
bear fruit. 

The voice of the story-teller.—The story-teller 
must be a pleasing personality. She must appeal 
agreeably to both the ear and the eye. Her voice 
should be natural, but it need not be pleasant. If 
her tones are sharp and rasping or her modulation 
is defective, she should endeavor to correct them. 

In no other way is improvement of the speaking 
voice made as quickly as by much reading aloud, 
done with a view to expression and modulation. 
In fact, oral reading is such an aid even to those 
who are not handicapped by harsh or rasping tones 
that it should be a part of the course of training for 
oral narration. , 

The elocutionary courses of our grandmothers’ 
days made Americans of an earlier generation more 
pleasing in their speech than most of us. We are 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 213 


not as much given to “Speak the speech trippingly 
on the tongue’ as they were, largely because we 
have not had the vocal training that was a part of 
education in their day. Lip, tongue and pitch 
exercises were a part of each school reading-lesson 
fifty years ago. These exercises rounded off the 
harsh corners and were conducive to flexibility of 
utterance and beautiful modulation. 

In an elocution book published in 18509, this 
direction is given to students: ‘‘Cultivate a habit 
of reading first in your natural pitch of voice, then 
in a light whisper, then in a loud whisper. This 
exercise, if frequently and faithfully practiced, will 
improve your articulation and increase your control 
of your breathing organs.” 

The practice of reading in the natural speaking 
voice and in a light and heavy whisper has been used 
recently with excellent results in a university course 
in story-telling. Several girls whose natural speak- 
ing tones were such that improvement in them 
was urgently needed, were benefited far beyond 
their expectations by three months of daily practice 
in oral reading in various pitches. Nor was it an 
arduous task to them. Half an hour each day was 
devoted to the reading, and.at the end of two weeks, 
improvement was noticed. 

The rule from the old elocution is being used in 
one of the best dramatic schools of America. 

*““We get graduates from so-called dramatic schools 
all over the country,” one of the directors of this 
institution said not long ago, ‘‘and almost always 
we find that their voice training has been defective. 
Usually we have to start in at the beginning and 
teach them breath control and modulation.” 


214 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


“Do not all dramatic schools give instruction in 
modulation and breath control?’’ he was asked. 
“Yes, but they don’t go at it in the right way. 
Most of them try a short-cut route, and there isn’t 
any. In order to get results you have to go back 
to the old-fashioned elocutionary exercises, speaking 
in many different pitches, sotto-voice, full voice, 
tc., practicing sentences composed of alliterative 
words, and doing a lot of other mechanical things 
to limber up the tongue and lips.” 

It is as necessary for the story-teller to have a 
pleasing voice as for the professional actress. Every 
student will do well to practice regularly some 
of the old-fashioned exercises that are considered 
invaluable in the training of dramatic stars. 

Beside reading aloud in various pitches, the 
following drills for articulation and flexibility of 
tongue and lips will be helpful: 

Read very distinctly, and at various rates of speed 
the following. Let the rates of speed be, first, very 
slow; then the natural speaking rate. Increase 
speed at each reading until it is very rapidly done. 
But zt must be done distinctly: 


Personification, Discrimination, 
Intercommunication, Interrogatively, 
Irresistibility, Congratulation, 
Incomprehensibility, Perpendicularity, 
Recapitulation, Emphatically, 
Metaphorically, Valetudinarian. 


(Short vowels) 


Ribilerabbles-robblecareh ble nibh 
Diibblosdrabble<-dvobbleetdrab ble Ldtaphie 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 215 


Peter Piper picked a peck, 
A peck of pickled peppers. | 


Ling, lang, lung, long, 
Sing, sang, sung, song. 


The story-teller’s appearance.—The dress of the 
narrator need not be elaborate, but it must be neat, 
and it should be as becoming and attractive as 
possible. Children love a “pretty story-teller’’— 
one who wears attractive clothes. Both girls and 
boys delight in the attractive garb of a teacher or 
story-teller, sometimes to such a degree that it 
affects their conduct. Lads who have been young 
torments to a teacher who dresses in unrelieved 
black, and who gave little thought to the arrange- 
ment of her hair, have become tractable under the 
leadership of one who was always charming in 
manner and attire. 

Children are more easily influenced by one who 
is pleasing to the eye than by one who is not. 
The mother is loved because she is the mother, 
regardless of whether she is plainly or beautifully 
dressed. But give a child his choice between an 
unattractive and an attractive teacher, and he will 
choose the latter every time. 

Mention has already been made of the effect of 
a “gypsy” story-teller on a troublesome lad on a 
playground. In the Sunday school it is hardly 
practical for the narrator to wear a gypsy costume, 
but she can wear a biblical costume. She can be 
a woman of Old Testament times in Palestine, a 
scribe or Levite, a fisher of the Sea of Galilee, or a 
gleaner from the Syrian fields. Cheese-cloth, home- 


216 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


colored in order to give the desired effect, will make 
an inexpensive and effective outfit. Any story- 
teller who dresses in costume will find a heightened 
enthusiasm on the part of boys and girls for the 
story hour. The mother in the home can make an 
afternoon or evening delightful to her children by 
costuming for the story period. Beside biblical 
costumes, medieval attire may be worn sometimes 
for a program of epical or racial tales. 

A few years ago costuming by story-tellers was 
almost unheard of, because its effect upon children 
was not realized. But now that teachers under- 
stand how much the appeal to the eye means, story- 
telling in costume, gypsy, Indian, etc., is a regular 
feature of social centers where the most successful 
work is being done, It has the effect of attracting 
to the story-hour children who might not otherwise 
be drawn to it. It adds to the delight of those 
who participate in the period, by heightening the 
feeling of reality of the Never-Never-Land in which 
story happenings occur. It is as if somebody has 
been wafted from that land into the prosaic world 
in which we dwell, to share with us their marvelous 
experiences. 


THE STORY-TELLER’S IDEALS 


The degree in which the story-teller can influence 
the lives of the boys and girls with whom she works, 
depends upon the ideals that are incorporated 
into her own life. She herself must live on a high 
plane or she cannot induce others to live worthily. 
Precepts melt into insignificance before the force 
of example. She may laud exemplary conduct with 
a tongue of golden eloquence, but unless she prac- 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 217 


tices what she preaches she will not be an influence 
for good. She must feel loyalty to faith and 
principle if she is to inculcate faith and loyalty in 
boys and girls. She must believe what she advo- 
cates. The code she establishes for herself must 
be worthy, and she must live in conformity with 
it. She must set her aim so high that only through 
constant striving can she hope to reach it. She 
must be a person of lofty vision, one who, in en- 
deavoring to know the fulfillment of a dream, is 
ever growing. 

The story-teller in the field of religious education, 
herself, needs to be genuinely religious. She should 
hold the conviction that only through the growth 
of spirituality in men, will a world of peace and 
brotherhood ever be realized. 

If she does believe this, and sees story-telling as 
a means of awakening religious feeling and _ fos- 
tering spirituality, she will feel enthusiasm and 
reverence for the narrator’s art that will make her 
an inspiration to those she undertakes to lead. She 
will love the work so much that she will cheerfully 
perform any labor that will tend to make her suc- 
cessful as a narrator. She will strive to become 
learned in story lore, so as to have ever at her 
command tales that embody spiritual truths. She 
will endeavor to improve her personality and so 
become a more pleasing individual. She will try 
to beautify her voice, to enrich her vocabulary 
with words that make more graphic and moving 
the word-pictures she presents. She will try to 
make herself young in spirit, so that she may be 
privileged to win the confidence of young people 
and share their hopes and dreams. All this she 


218 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


will do, not grudgingly, as the performance of some 
irksome chore, but buoyantly, joyfully, stimulated 
by the high ambition to serve in the glorious field 
of endeavor that has for its aim the realization of 
the kingdom of God upon the earth. 


THOUGHT QUESTIONS 


1. What is meant by the story-teller’s attitude? 

Explain what the attitude should be toward the 

children; toward the material. : 

. Why is it necessary for the story-teller to have 

a forceful, pleasing personality? 

3. What differentiates a colorless, negative per- 
sonality from one that is forceful, vigorous? 

4. Can a forceful and pleasing personality be cul- 
tivated? How? 

5. How is it possible to improve the speaking voice? 

6. Why is it necessary for the story-teller to be 

pleasing in appearance? 7 

- Explain what should be the story-teller’s ideals, 
and why her life must conform to the ideals she 
advocates. | 


tO 


~I 


HELPFUL BOOKS FOR THE STORY-TELLER 


How to Tell Stories to Children—Bryant. 

Siortes to Tell to Children—Bryant. 

For the Story-Teller—Bailey. 

Educating by Story-Telling—Cather. 

Story-Telling for Teachers of Beginners and Primary 
Children—Cather. 

Good Citizenship Through Story-T elling—Forbes. 

Telling Bible Siories—Houghton. 

Stories for Every Holiday—Bailey. 


THROUGH STORY-TELLING 219 


Story-Telling, Questioning and Studying—Horne. 

Story-Telling in Moral and Religious Education— 
St. John. 

Story-Telling in the Home and School—Partridge. 

The Teacher as an Artist—Horne. 

The Teacher’s Philosophy—Hyde. 

Education in Religion and Morals—Coe. 

Moral Principles in Education—Dewey. 

Educaiton for Characier—Sharp. 

The Use of the Bible in the Education of the Young— 
Raymont. 

The Gospel in Ari—Bailey. 








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